Hong Kong’s Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) has launched iAM Smart which provides all Hong Kong residents with a single digital identity and authentication to conduct government and commercial transactions online. All Hong Kong residents can apply for iAM Smart accounts, formerly known as eID, free of charge on a voluntary basis. With an iAM Smart account, users can make use of the biometrics in their personal mobile devices to authenticate their identities, which have been verified against their HKID cards during iAM Smart registration, and log in to online services. As such, users will have access…

ZA Bank has been granted an Insurance Agency License from the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA), allowing it to act as an agent of ZA Insure, a fully digital insurer under the ZA brand. The move sees ZA Bank become Hong Kong’s first virtual bank to offer insurance products as a digital-only insurer, 10 months after the bank’s official launch. ZA Bank will on-board a suite of ZA Insure products in due course. Users will then be able to access services from quotation, application, underwriting to payment, that can be completed in the ZA Bank’s app. They can also view…

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has launched the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance Accelerator 2021 (BFSI Accelerator). The BFSI Accelerator aims to bridge corporates and innovators to deliver breakthrough technologies and create a wide array of new business opportunities in the world of banking, financial services and insurance. The BFSI partners include Bank of China (Hong Kong), China CITIC Bank International, China Construction Bank (Asia), Citibank Hong Kong, DBS Hong Kong, Fubon Asset Management, Fusion Bank, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Mastercard, Ping An Technology, Prudential Corporation Asia, SCOR, SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, The Bank of East…

WeLab Bank, a virtual bank licensed by Hong Kong Monetary Authority, announces that Tat Lee has been appointed as the new Chief Executive. He succeeds Adrian Tse, who has stepped down from the role for what the bank described as “personal reasons”. Tat has close to two decades of retail banking and fintech experience and was most recently the Alternate Chief Executive and Executive Director of WeLab Bank. Tat joined WeLab as employee back in 2013, at a time when the firm was still in its infancy. Over the last eight years, he has assumed a number of roles in…

Hong Kong digital tech park Cyberport has partnered with R3, a distributed ledger and blockchain software development company, for its accelerator programme Block adVenture where so far 10 teams have been selected. The three-month startup programme focusing on blockchain technology received applications from diverse industries, including payments, wealth management, gaming, entertainment and Chinese medicine supply chain. It’s the latest move by Cyberport and is part of the digital tech park’s ongoing effort to expand its footprint in blockchain, one of its key technology clusters. Block adVenture is a new programme launched in November 2020 by Cyberport in collaboration with industry…

ZA International, digital insurer founded by ZhongAn Online, announced the launch of its “Free Post-Vaccination Protection” as a part of its ZA Relief Fund worth HK$ 6 million established in February 2020 to offer its customers support amidst the pandemic. This is available to all its new and existing customers who are Hong Kong residents holding a valid identity card free of charge. Under the scheme, ZA customers will receive a daily cash grant of HKD 800 for up to 10 days if they are hospitalised within 14 days after getting the vaccine provided by the HKSAR government, and a…

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has announced a partnership with Booking.com to deliver travel deals to all its users within its app. Crypto.com users who make Booking.com reservations in the app will receive a discount of up to 25% for accommodations. Users who pay using their Crypto.com Visa Card can get up to 8% back on spending along with travel perks, including free and unlimited LoungeKey™ airport lounge access, free ATM withdrawals worldwide, and no foreign transaction fees. According to Booking.com, 65 percent of consumers are excited to travel again in 2021, though the majority (62 percent) expect to be…

A new whitepaper by Huawei and the International Data Corporation (IDC) looks at how banks around the world have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the way forward in the new normal. In a report titled Banking Industry Rises up to the New Normal, the two organizations share results of the Banking Resilience Index, which aims to act as an indicator of banking operation and capability for recovery amid the pandemic. The index quantifies the current status of banking by region in terms of six key measures, and shows the major regional differences. It evaluates each region’s performance and…

Prudential released The Pulse of Asia – The Health of Asia Barometer, a report written by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which underscores the opportunities offered by digital health technologies to improve access to healthcare in Asia. The research, which explores attitudes to healthcare in Asia, highlights the demand for tools and services to help people in the region better navigate the healthcare system. It also highlights the opportunity for governments to partner with the private sector to maximise the potential of digital healthcare. High rates of digital health technology adoption The report, which surveyed 5,000 adults across 13 markets…

FWD Hong Kong has launched its instant claims service through its eServices app. The solution allows FWD customers to receive claims payments within seconds after claims applications approval via the Faster Payment System (FPS) and 7-Eleven convenience stores. Claim applications submitted to the eServices app are processed instantly by its AI assessment engine, and customers can receive claims approvals and get paid through their selected means instantly via FPS, at any 7-Eleven convenience store at MTR stations, or conventionally by direct transfer to their bank accounts. The instant claims service is currently applicable to life insurance’s personal accident claims of…

On December 26, 2020, four Chinese financial regulators, including the central bank, summoned Ant Group for regulatory talks, ordering the fintech giant to “rectify” its regulatory violations and “return to its payment origins.” Pan Gongsheng, a deputy governor at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), described what had been discussed during the meeting, stating that Ant was “indifferent” to the law, “looked down” upon compliance requirements, and engaged in “illegal regulatory arbitrage.” Ant’s corporate governance is “not sound,” Pan said, the company takes advantage of its dominance to exclude rivals and harm consumers’ interests. The financial regulators laid out a…

Neat, a Hong Kong based fintech company offering modern financial solutions to SMEs and startups, has become a member of the Visa network and will issue its own Neat Visa card for businesses incorporated in Hong Kong. As a member of Visa, Neat is able to issue its own payment products, tapping into Visa’s global network and offering an enhanced customer experience. For entrepreneurs, corporate cards, though a crucial business tool, can be difficult to obtain. Small businesses are often restricted by unreasonably low spending limits, poor visibility of their spending data and hefty monthly fees. With the new Neat…

EMQ, a Hong Kong-based financial settlement network, announced that it has expanded its operations into the South Korean market, offering cross-border payment capabilities worldwide. “South Korea has one of the most vibrant digital economies in the world with its retail e-commerce volume estimated at $90.5 billion by 2024, and global business would require access to an agile network infrastructure like EMQ that facilitates seamless cross-border payouts in local currencies without multiple intermediaries,” said Max Liu, co-founder and CEO of EMQ. “Our expansion to South Korea further strengthens our capabilities to deliver innovative and value-added solutions with “in minutes” service levels…

Within 2 weeks of the public launch of Fusion Bank, the last of the eight virtual banks licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the virtual bank has managed to secure over 10,000 customers. Previously known as Infinium Limited, the virtual bank had a soft launch back in September 2020 before going public recently. Fusion Bank is a joint venture between Tencent Holdings Limited, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC Asia), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Hillhouse Capital and Hong Kong entrepreneur Mr. Adrian Cheng via an investment entity, Perfect Ridge Limited. Fusion Bank currently provides…

Like many other areas of the economy, the financial services sector is undergoing a data revolution. Every day, the global banking industry generates massive amounts of data by processing hundreds of billions of financial transactions as well as through interactions including emails, video communications, call logs and mentions on social media. Banks are using this data to develop new products and services that are more personalized and which better fit customers’ digital lifestyle. COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalization of the banking industry, further increasing the amount of data. This huge growth in data creation is bringing both opportunities and challenges…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to profoundly disrupt the financial services landscape, technology holds to key to overcoming the operational challenges caused by the public health crisis, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). In HKMA’s fifth issue of Regtech Watch, a newsletter that promotes the adoption of regulatory technology, the regulator shares four regtech use cases that are relevant to COVID-19. In the paper, the HKMA says that regtech can be used to help banks better manage work-from-home arrangements, ensure efficient and compliant business communication, automate business processes, and enable more efficient surveillance and contact tracing. Remote access…

The Asian Financial Forum, Asia’s premier thought leadership platform for financial and business leaders, investors, technology pioneers and entrepreneurs, will return on January 18 and 19, 2021 in a brand-new virtual format with over 150 distinguished speakers exchanging insights, intelligence and business opportunities with more than 6,000 executives and senior decision makers from around the world. Themed “Reshaping the World Economic Landscape”, the upcoming AFF will examine the most pressing issues of the day, including post-pandemic recovery, sustainable development, fintech, 5G, digital assets, cyber security, entrepreneurship and venture investment as well as asset and wealth management. The two-day virtual conference…

Fusion Bank, Hong Kong’s virtual bank jointly owned by Tencent, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Hillhouse Capital and Perfect Ridge, has announced the full public launch of its banking services. Previously known as Infinium Limited, the virtual bank had soft-launched in September 2020, making it the eighth and final virtual bank in Hong Kong to fully launch its services to the Hong Kong public. Fusion Bank currently provides a variety of services including savings, time deposits, local fund transfer as well as foreign exchange in HKD, CNY and USD. Customers can make local payments in HKD and CNY on Fusion…

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com announced that it has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider. Running on AWS, Crypto.com will scale to offer financial services beyond its existing user base. By using AWS Trusted Advisor, a tool that provides real-time guidance to help provision resources, allowing the company to detect potential security gaps and receive recommendations for improvement. Crypto.com is also using AWS Transit Gateway, a service that enables customers to connect thousands of Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (Amazon VPCs) and their on-premises networks using a single gateway, to support the company’s inter-region peering to ensure…

Fintech News Hong Kong would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We will be taking a break from the 24th December 2020 to the 3rd January 2021. Until then, you can access some of our year-end articles that may be of interest to you. We look forward to seeing you all again on the 4th January 2021! https://fintechnews.hk/14341/hong-kong/6-developments-that-shaped-hong-kongs-fintech-industry-in-2020/ https://fintechnews.hk/14141/fintechchina/chinas-10-most-valuable-fintech-companies/ https://fintechnews.hk/13867/hong-kong/top-8-most-well-funded-fintech-startups-in-hong-kong-2020/ https://fintechnews.hk/13912/regtech/regtech-in-hong-kong/ https://fintechnews.hk/13052/virtual-banking/hong-kongs-eight-virtual-banks-the-progress-so-far/ https://fintechnews.hk/13887/events/5-key-highlights-from-day-one-of-hong-fintech-week-2020/