WorldRemit has announced a partnership with Alipay, enabling consumers to use the WorldRemit app or website for cross-border remittances to the Alipay app. The international money transfer service to the Alipay app is now available from over 40 countries. “Our vision is to build a mobile-first, international payments service and we’re excited to work with Alipay as a partner,” said Tamer El-Emary, Chief Commercial Officer, WorldRemit. “The partnership will focus on innovation, customer experience and speed to market.” In many markets around the world, the vast majority of remittances are still being sent ‘offline’. Money is taken to,…

UnionPay International and PayPal, today announced a global partnership where both companies will work together to accelerate the growth of their networks. As part of the agreement, PayPal has committed to supporting UnionPay’s acceptance globally where PayPal is accepted – giving UnionPay cardholders more choice when shopping As part of the agreement, PayPal and UPI have also committed to collaborating to better serve joint customers and merchants to grow digital payments in China and globally. This will include the opportunity for PayPal customers from around the world to use PayPal at the merchants where UnionPay is accepted. This news comes…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced the outcomes and published a joint report on Project Inthanon-LionRock. The two authorities initiated Project Inthanon-LionRock to study the application of CBDC to cross-border payments.  A THB-HKD cross-border corridor network prototype was developed, allowing participating banks in Hong Kong and Thailand to conduct funds transfers and foreign exchange transactions on a peer-to-peer basis, which helps reduce settlement layers.  Leveraging on smart contracts, the cross-border funds transfer process is enhanced to a real-time and atomic payment-versus-payment (PvP) manner. Project Inthanon-LionRock was completed in December 2019 and a distributed…

The Hong Kong Insititute of Bankers announced that that six virtual banks in Hong Kong have recently joined the Institute as Corporate Members: Airstar Bank Limited, Fusion Bank Limited, Livi VB Limited, Ping An OneConnect Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, SC Digital Solutions Limited as well as WeLab Bank Limited. “The HKIB is thrilled to welcome six of the city’s virtual banks as Corporate Members. Launching virtual banks has marked a new era in the development of Hong Kong’s banking sector and underlines that professional training must advance to keep pace. The HKIB now boasts a member base with 103 Corporate…

Taoyuan Metro company will launch contactless payment via bank cards on January 16, 2020 to serve passengers travelling to and from the capital city of Taipei and Taoyuan International Airport. The tap-and-go service will open to holders of VISA, Mastercard, Union Pay and JCB cards and mobile devices with NFC (Near Field Communication) functions such as Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. The latest system of metro transportation convenience was announced last week by Taoyuan Metro at a press conference – “Smart Taoyuan Metro — smart cards lead you forward to the world”. Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan said…

Soon you’ll only need your mobile phone to withdraw from one of Hang Seng Bank’s 600 ATM machines in Hong Kong. Hang Seng will be launching its mobile cash withdrawal service powered by NFC and QR codes some time this month. Customers can choose to use the ATM’s QR code or NFC connection to make withdrawals, which will be included in the HK$10,000 daily limit for small-value transfers. At launch, all Hang Seng ATMs will support QR code cash withdrawals and over half will support both QR code and NFC cash withdrawals. NFC connectivity will be extended to all…

Venture Leaders Fintech 2019, a 6-day pitching and fundraising roadshow co-organized by Venturelab and swissnex China took place from November 3rd to 9th in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The 10 leading Swiss Fintech startup were selected by an expert jury among nearly 60 applications. The startups participated at the Hong Kong Fintech Week as well as in mentoring workshops, investor meetings, pitching events and visits across Hong Kong and Shenzhen financial ecosystems. For the first edition of Venture Leaders Fintech in Hong Kong, swissnex China and Venturelab led the Swiss startups on a six-day roadshow in China’s Greater Bay Area,…

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) concluded its annual Elevator Pitch Competition 2019 (EPiC), which saw 126  start-ups from 33 markets making the business pitch of their lives, vying for cash prizes of over HK$1 million. T his is the fourth year of the competition, and this year’s event attracted a record number of 650 applications in the first round of entries. The final competition day in Hong Kong brought together more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, angel investors, industry players, incubators, accelerators and tech disruptors. BionicM Inc., the winner from Artificial Intelligence & Robotics category, topped…

Virtual banks and insurtech in the spotlight, with a nod to sloths, elephants and mosquitoes Newly licensed virtual banks and insurtech companies laid out their visions and strategies for growth, while more seasoned fintech players from across the globe offered lessons learned through hard experience, on the second day of the main conference of Hong Kong Fintech Week, organised by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK). The recurring theme throughout the day was that while technology is blurring or breaking through boundaries and upending the world around us, it’s important not to forget that it should only be a tool to help…

Fintech Week sees significant HKMA and SFC regulatory announcements, while sync. wins FintechHK Global Competition. Digital trade finance platforms, digital and cryptocurrencies, cross-border payments and a vision for Hong Kong fintech all figured strongly on the opening day of Hong Kong Fintech Week at the AsiaWorld-Expo, when the news flow was led by regulatory announcements, all ground-breaking, all pointing to a stronger Hong Kong fintech ecosystem in years to come. Looking to the future and in one of the highlights of the day, it was hats off to sync., billed as the world’s first smart bank. Sync. was announced as…

To step up efforts in cultivating a talent for Fintech in local students and to strengthen the links in corporate partnership, the Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and DBS Hong Kong have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for an inaugural Master of Science in Financial Technology programme (MSc FinTech), offering training to skilled students. The MOU was signed by Professor Martin D. F. Wong, Dean of Engineering, CUHK, and Ms. Brit Blakeney, Head of Innovation & Ecosystems, DBS Hong Kong. It is a collaboration of the business and academic sectors to further foster…

Located in the centre of Europe, Lithuania is also becoming a centre of the financial technologies sector in the European Union. Fintech–conducive regulatory environment, young and talented labor pool and ability to reach half a billion customers throughout Europe – these are the things Lithuania can offer not only to local companies but to any fintech company that wants to grow. And offers already – 2018 statistics showed that a total of 170 companies were operating in the country: 120 of them being Lithuanian and others – both from and non–EU. „As a hub of fintech sector in Europe, not…

You never get a second chance at a first impression – this statement is applicable within all contexts in life, and even more so when it comes to business. If you’re an entrepreneur or the owner of a startup, you’ll know how important first impressions are when it comes to attracting investors, customers and potential clients to your business. This is why it is imperative that you take all the necessary steps possible to ensure that your business exudes nothing but professionalism. In this article, we look at some dead easy methods that any startup can utilise in a bid…

Samsung SDS introduced customers’ common pain points in adopting blockchain and announced its blockchain business direction and the solution to the pain points. When companies apply blockchain technology to their business, they have concerns on: Converging services across various industries Connecting different blockchain technologies Easy application and expansion of blockchain in timely manner. Samsung SDS proposes ‘3C’ solutions to solve such difficulties; Convergence, Connectivity, Cloud. First, recent market circumstances not just demand companies to simply adopt blockchain on existing business but also to develop new converged service that connects business processes of different industries such as manufacturing, logistics, government, financial…

DocDoc, a patient empowerment platform recently announced that it secured strategic investment from Cyberport Macro Fund . Following this investment round DocDoc will be opening a new office in Hong Kong’s Cyberport This recent investment from Cyberport brings the total funding DocDoc has raised to date to US$18.5 million. DocDoc, combining a large Asian network of doctors with a powerful AI-powered doctor discovery platform, will use the proceeds from its latest fundraising to expand its market presence in Hong Kong and strengthen its network of doctors in the region. It will leverage the Cyberport facilities, infrastructure and its network to…

During IBM’s annual conference focused on technology and business, Samsung SDS announced it is continuing its collaboration with IBM in support of advancing Hyperledger Fabric, an open source cross-industry blockchain technology, with recent code contributions, research and a new white paper. As a contributor to Hyperledger Fabric, Samsung SDS is working to improve fabric capabilities and actively contributing its new “Accelerator” code to the open source community. The new code is expected to significantly improve Hyperledger Fabric performance for specific use cases. Samsung SDS is also making a new white paper available, “Accelerating Throughput in Permissioned Blockchain Networks,” co-written by…

79% of Hong Kongers don’t understand the true cost of international money transfers, a recent survey has found. Of those interviewed, only 21% of respondents were able to correctly identify the full cost of sending money abroad – which involves both an upfront fee and an exchange rate mark-up. The remaining 79% couldn’t name one or both of the fee components or said they didn’t know. In all, 52% of Hong Kongers didn’t know there was typically an exchange rate mark-up charged when sending money abroad. When asked to estimate the average fee to send about US$1,000 overseas, 78% of respondents…

More than 3,300 financial policymakers, financial elites and business leaders attended the two-day 12th Asian Financial Forum (AFF), which concluded yesterday. Co-organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the theme for this year’s forum was “Creating a Sustainable and Inclusive Future”, examining the current economic environment and gauging the views of participants through on-site real-time polling on issues such as the global economy, investment opportunities, and the risks brought about by technology and innovation. More than 700 one-on-one meetings were arranged during the AFF Deal Flow Matchmaking Session, helping participants…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) held 9 January 2019 a high-level Fintech Roundtable (Roundtable), which was attended by about 45 senior representatives from six international organizations and around 30 central banks or regulatory authorities in 18 jurisdictions. The Roundtable facilitated exchange of ideas and discussions on current fintech topics which are of mutual interests. It also aimed to strengthen cross-border fintech collaboration among jurisdictions in order to promote innovation and technology adoption that would bring greater convenience, efficiency and security to the public and at the same time ensure financial stability. Titled From Mutual Understanding to Global Collaboration, the…

JOS, a technology solutions provider for Asia’s changing environment, through consultancy and system integration, has joined hands with three market leaders for the return of the popular JOS Innovation Awards. The annual Awards, designed to recognise innovation and creative problem-solving to everyday business challenges, will this year be supported by JOS, Manulife, Hong Kong Maxim’s Group and Sino Group. The annual JOS Innovation Awards were founded in 2015 to inspire, nurture and recognise students who can contribute to making the world a more efficient and better place to live. To date, the Awards have attracted over five hundred Hong Kong university and tertiary student submissions.…