OneDegree Global, an insurtech firm with presence in Hong Kong and Taipei, announced today that it has launched IXT Core, an enterprise-grade core insurance platform that powers digital transformation for insurers, MGAs and brokers. OneDegree is being as a virtual insurer who offers pet insurance, they secured their virtual insurance license earlier in April. In 2019, they completed a US$ 30 million funding round which was led by BitRock Capital and it sees participation from Cyberport Macro Fund. The insurtech startup claims that the IXT Core upends the traditional insurance business model by streamlining the entire value chain, introducing automation…

A new report by iResearch Consulting Group indicates that the total size of third-party mobile payment transactions in China reduced by 4% for the first time in the first quarter of 2020 to compared to the same period last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the drop, data from 2020 Q1 Chinese Third-party Mobile Payments Market Report shows that Ant Group’s Alipay has retained its leadership position with a steady increase over the last four quarters, rising to 55.4% market share, a 1.6% increase year-on-year. Tencent’s Tenpay which owns WeChat Pay and QQ Wallet comes in second…

AMK, the provider of microfinance services in Cambodia, and EMQ, a global financial settlement network, have teamed up to facilitate cross-border money transfer across Southeast Asia. This partnership enables AMK to integrate with EMQ’s extensive global network for secure, compliant cross-border solutions, making financial services more accessible and inclusive for their customers and families across the region. With a  track record  and global reach, EMQ recently ramped up its network expansion across Asia Pacific, Africa and North America, with access to over 80 key global markets. Max Liu, co-founder and CEO of EMQ said “By connecting AMK directly to our…

WeLab has been named #11 on the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, and was the only company included from Hong Kong and just one of five from Asia. This is WeLab’s first appearance on this list of private companies who are innovating and making impact to change the world across different industries. Of the 50 companies, 15 of them are tech-driven financial services companies, including Stripe, Kabbage, SoFi and Affirm. All these companies share a common goal – to unlock and empower users financially through technology. This latest recognition comes on the heels of WeLab being ranked #2 on Financial Times’…

The People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the Monetary Authority of Macao have implemented a pilot scheme called the Wealth Management Connect to facilitate cross-boundary investment by individual residents in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The scheme has a southbound and a northbound components, depending on the residency of the investors. Under Southbound Wealth Management Connect, residents of the Mainland cities in the GBA can invest in eligible investment products distributed by banks in Hong Kong and Macao by opening designated investment accounts with these banks. Under the Northbound Wealth Management…

Cyberport today announced that it has been commissioned by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to implement the “Fintech Anti-epidemic Scheme for Talent Development” (FAST), established under the second round of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government’s Anti-epidemic Fund. The scheme will open for application starting from 2 July. FAST provides salary subsidies lasting one year for Fintech companies creating new full-time positions, with the aim to generate Fintech-related employment opportunities for finance and technology professionals as well as fresh university graduates. A total quota of 1,000 subsidies will be available and each company can apply for…

Technology is transforming payments, and one of the most widely talked about innovations in this regard has been digital currencies. Despite its growing dominance in international headlines, many who are unfamiliar with the scene find themselves asking “what is a digital currency?” Brought under the spotlight by Bitcoin and later on, the blockchain frenzy, digital currencies have been at the center of attention for their potential to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Though initially affiliated with the dark web and cyber, criminal activities, digital currencies have since moved out of their historical bad reputation to progressively becoming part of the…

MYbank, the digital bank under Ant Group (formely known as Ant Financial) which is part of the Alibaba Group, today announced a five-year plan to reach more small and micro enterprises (SMEs) across China via supply chain finance and rural lending. The five-year plan details MYbank’s aspirations to work with partners across multiple sectors to better serve SMEs across China. Key measures and initiatives MYbank will implement as part of the plan include — leveraging supply chain finance to support 10 million SMEs, working with 2,000 county and village managers for rural lending, collaborate with financial institution partners to distribute…

The use of cloud technology is rapidly catching up in financial services, with PwC calling it one of the major fintech trends for 2020. A Cornerstone Advisors study found that a quarter of financial institutions are planning to invest in or implement cloud computing technologies in 2020. 40% say they’ve already done so, and half of them will enhance or modify what they’ve got. Though adoption is still in its early stages with 22% of all applications running on the cloud, according to Bloomberg, growth is happening at a steady pace. Here we look at six cloud-based services providers offering…

Ping An OneConnect Bank (PAOB) announced its pilot trial under the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox (“FSS”) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”). PAOB is among the 8 virtual banks that have received a license from HKMA to operate. To date, other virtual banks like ZA Bank, WeLab, MOX, Airstar have either soft-launched or fully launched their services in Hong Kong. For its pilot trial, PAOB will invite about 200 selected trade SMEs and approximately 2,000 individual customers in Hong Kong to experience PAOB SME and retail banking services respectively. The virtual bank will be leveraging technology for its parent company…

Manulife Hong Kong today announced the launch of a ‘Virtual Face-to-Face’ agency sales platform for all Manulife individual insurance products in Hong Kong, except investment-linked assurance schemes. Manulife’s Virtual Face-to-Face sales capability enables customers to buy even the most sophisticated long-term insurance policies through the company’s individual insurance agents. The sales process requires no physical meeting or wet-ink signature,. With this digital solution, both new and existing customers can virtually meet with Manulife’s agents via highly secure video chat and purchase a wide range of Manulife individual insurance products. The new insurtech solution is approved by the Insurance Authority through…

American Express announced that its joint-venture in mainland China, Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Company Limited (“Express Company”), has received approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a network clearing license. With this, American Express becomes the first foreign payments network to be licensed to clear RMB transactions in mainland China. The company expects to begin processing transactions later this year. This follows a pattern of China opening up their market to American companies, in October 2019, the People Bank of China approved PayPal’s acquisition of local payments firm GoPay. Express Company is American Express’ joint venture with Lianlian…

In the coming year, Hong Kong will be introducing several new measures and initiatives to facilitate fintech development with a focus on building up its fintech talent pool, and expanding the application of technological infrastructures such as the iAM Smart platform to financial services, especially in the field of digital know-your-customer (eKYC), according to a June 2020 update on fintech development by the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo). The iAM Smart platform, formerly known as Electronic Identity (eID), was first announced by the government in October 2017 and seeks to provide Hong Kong residents with a one-stop personalized e-government services…

Airstar Bank today announced the official launch of its virtual banking services to the public which encompass savings account, time deposit and personal loan products. In March, Airstar Bank which is jointly operated by AMTD Group and Xiaomi launched their pilot programme that onboarded 2,000 customers from friends and families of the staff. In launching the bank fully, Airstar Bank said that its core mission is becoming “Everyone’s Bank” with financial inclusion in the heart. In their statement, they shared that as opposed to the priority banking model which retains high networth individuals with favourable deposit rates, Airstar Bank aims…

With evolving lifestyles, growing awareness of health and fitness, and medical advancement enabling more people to live longer, retirement will increasingly require a bigger and more stable nest egg. To help people better understand their retirement needs and plan for their golden years, DBS Hong Kong announced the launch of Face Your Future, an experience aimed at raising awareness of the importance of retirement planning. “Planning for the future and retirement is never easy, and is even more challenging given the current uncertainties surrounding the pandemic. As life expectancy increases, and lifestyle needs change, it is important to know how…

Doing business in a modern economy like Hong Kong means digitally connecting with people, organisations and systems on a global scale. Since the birth of the internet, companies have endeavoured to increase their digital presence. The rise of websites, social media and digitization of platforms facilitating the exchange of money such as trading stocks and shares has exponentially grown the global economy. However, this brought about new challenges and problems to overcome. One such problem is digital identity. How do we know who we are dealing with online? In 2008, the world went into shock when Lehman Brothers collapsed. This…

Historically, regions such as Hong Kong and similar nations in southeast Asia have been loath to accept the merits of fintech. However, this trend has reversed markedly of late, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority handing out licenses to eight new virtual banks as a way of encouraging further innovation in this space. Despite this, established lenders are increasingly optimistic about their futures in the fintech era, thanks largely to their continued collaboration with financial technology startups and willingness to evolve in the digital age. In this post, we’ll look at how the fintech market has evolved and expanded in…

In 2019, cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds’ assets under management (AUM) doubled to US$2 billion, and the average per fund jumped to US$44 million from US$21.9 million the prior year, according to a research by PwC and digital asset investment firm Elwood Asset Management Services. The 2020 Crypto Hedge Fund Report, released in May, notes a correlation between the growth of the sector with the price of bitcoin, pointing out that almost two thirds of the current ~150 active crypto hedge funds were launched in 2018 or 2019. In 2018, the price of Bitcoin rose by more than 1,200%, while in 2019,…

With a mushrooming delinquency rate and investment fraud allegations, South Korea’s rapidly growing peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry has come under scrutiny. Over the past couple of years, the delinquency rate, or the percentage of loans that are past due, has snowballed within South Korea’s P2P lending sector. As of late January 2020, the average delinquency rate of 45 P2P lending firms stood at 9.32%, up from 8.43% a month earlier, according to the Korea P2P Finance Association. As a comparison, the average delinquency rate was only a mere 0.42% in late 2016 when P2P was first introduced in South Korea.…

Temenos, the banking software company, announced that Next Commercial Bank (Next Bank), has selected Temenos Transact to power its launch as one of Taiwan’s first virtual bank. Cloud-native, cloud-agnostic they said that Temenos Transact will deliver rich, pre-configured banking functionality and compliance to support Next Bank’s rapid launch to market in 2020. Next Bank is backed by local investment from Taiwan telecom operator, Chunghwa Telecom, among others, and will launch with capital around USD 332 million. The virtual bank is among the first batch of entities granted a license from the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission to operate a virtual bank.…