Seeing the popularity of WeChat Pay and Alipay in China, it is easy for some to assume that these mobile payment apps are equally popular in Hong Kong. Unlike China, Hong Kong is still largely a very cash dominant society. When it comes going cashless Hong Kongers lean towards credit cards and the ever reliable Octopus Card. Octopus Card Remains a Popular Option for Hong Kongers Next to cash, Octopus Card is among the most popular method to pay in Hong Kong. Introduced in 1997, it has since issued more than 35 million Octopus Cards, with an impressive record of…

Designed by Magnum Research, Aqumon is a robo advisory service aimed at making wealth management more accessible to the Hong Kong public using artificial intelligence. The company recently announced that it has closed an undisclosed sum of financing from the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Bohai XinWang, and BOC International, a subsidiary of Bank of China. According the press release issued by Magnum Research, beyond just receiving capital from BOC International, they also aim to integrate Aqumon’s robo advisory solution to provide global asset allocation services to BOC International’s clients. Lixin Wang, Managing Director of BOCI Direct Investment Department, sharing…

Over the past decade, millions of Chinese investors sunk their cash into thousands of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms. These were promised steady growth, big dividends, and a chance to put financial worries behind. But over the past months, a wave of defaults has swept across the industry, causing investors to withdraw funds and leading platforms to collapse. China’s P2P lending industry is the biggest in the world valued at 1.3 trillion yuan (US$190 billion), according to the Financial Times. At the end of June, there were more than 1,800 online lending platforms operating in China. The industry channeled loans from…

The financial services and banking industry has witnessed major transformations in recent years, fueled by advances in digital platforms and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and blockchain, and a changing regulatory landscape that’s opening up the market to more competitors. In this rapidly evolving landscape, financial professionals and students must be aware and knowledgeable about the trends that are reshaping the industry. The following is a list of some of the world’s most notable fintech and blockchain courses available out there: Fintech Talent Programme – Singapore The Fintech Talent (FT) Programme was launched in 2017…

China and Hong Kong await you. From now till the end of this year, we have some exciting fintech events lined up for you to feast on. Come along for a new experience, get to know someone new, or simply to get a sense of what the fintech scene is like here. Ps. For your convenience, we’ve even prepared you a list of hotels closest to each venue. Have fun booking! (The price listings reflect the actual event days, so do double-check the dates in case you have different travel arrangements in mind.) [28-29 August] Robotic Process Automation (RPA) North…

Increasing popularity of initial coin offerings (ICOs) as a means of funding startups brought particular attention to this thriving market and helped the blockchain industry grow drastically in recent years. According to a June 2018 PwC report, ICOs continue to surpass traditional venture capital (VC) funding, especially in technology and blockchain-related startups, and there are many reasons to choose an ICO over traditional VC funding, including crowd support, and the freedom for founders to innovate. But as ICOs make their way into the mainstream, many challenges remain, including unclear regulations, flawed token valuation, and transparency and security risks. Here are…

Singularity University just concluded their very first APAC Global Impact Challenge (GIC), and two Taiwanese startups have emerged as winners. The challenge aimed to discover moonshot innovations and startups that positively impact the lives of people living in the Asia Pacific, specifically with an ability to scale and impact a billion of people in a decade. Participants were tasked with developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to address global issues posing a threat to sustainability. AI solutions could tackle issues ranging from energy, environment, food, water, disaster resilience, governance, and health, among other things. One of its Taiwanese winners is a startup named…

Blockchain solutions provider Diginex will join forces with blockchain-based voting platform Agora to provide blockchain-based voting in Asia. Agora uses the blockchain to record and store voting information. Leveraging the blockchain’s properties in this manner has the potential benefit of weeding out third-party tampering, corruption and fraud in electoral processes Meanwhile Diginex will leverage its networks across Asia to enable flexible deployment of the Agora platform in the region. Much of this will involve providing Agora with the necessary access and implementation support for it to work effectively. Mr. Mark Blick, Head of Government Projects at Diginex, expressed his optimism…

ZhongAn Online is a digital insurer in China that was formed through the collaborative efforts of Ping An, Tencent and Alibaba. As the name suggests, it is an insurance service that is run fully online, which helps them widen their net while also lowering operating and distribution costs. Intelligent Open Platform for Insurers Through their insurance provisions, ZhongAn Technology has accumulated immense data which it claims covers 70% of the latest medical insurance directory, 180,000 drug databases, and connections across hundreds of hospitals across the country. Therefore it announced recently that it has launched a domestic SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform designed for insurers…

CurrencyFair, an International Money Transfer service to consumers and businesses has announced a major expansion into Asia through the acquisition of Hong Kong based, Convoy Payments Limited. This announcement follows Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s visit to Dublin in May this year, who encouraged Irish fintech companies to leverage Hong Kong’s competitive advantage to expand their operations in Asia and globally. This acquisition accelerates CurrencyFair’s entry into the Asian market and opens up access to the US market through Convoy Payments’ existing business. CurrencyFair will launch the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) on its platform in…

Shanghai, a global financial center and transport hub, has emerged as one of China’s fintech powerhouses in recent years, and the city’s tech scene is expected to further grow in new technology areas such as virtual reality, biometrics, big data-based risk management, blockchain and AI. These will be supported by increased government support, improved regulatory environment and implementation of Free Trade Zone policies. As fintech thrives in Shanghai, the following are 12 fintech companies from the city you should know: Dianrong Founded in 2012, Dianrong operates an online intermediary lending services platform, which helps individuals and companies obtain funding…

Hong Kong is gearing up for the arrival of virtual banks, or financial institutions without physical branches. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is set to issue the first batch of virtual bank licenses as early as this year. The HKMA said more than 50 Hong Kong, Chinese mainland and overseas small to medium sized companies (SMEs) and large-scale enterprises have expressed interest in the license. These include homegrown fintech players including WeLab, an online lender, TNG, a mobile wallet specialist, Neat, a banking services provider, and Yedpay!, an online and mobile payments company. Neat launched its personal banking service…

As the development of cryptocurrency evolves, cryptocurrency exchanges have become the core of the blockchain economy globally. Exchanges open the access to cryptocurrencies to the public, allowing investors to trade with fiat currencies or cryptocurrencies. Because of the use of fiat currencies, fiat-to-crypto exchanges are often more regulated and more difficult to establish than crypto-to-crypto exchanges. While no regulations have been imposed on cryptocurrency in Taiwan, the Financial Supervisory Commission has been monitoring the development of cryptocurrency exchanges and keeping contact with the exchange operators. Without regulatory restraints, cryptocurrency exchanges in Taiwan have been booming since 2017. Here are 5…

After a long deliberation and hearing from 41 different respondents, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has just published the Open Application Programming Interface (API) Framework for Hong Kong’s banks. The API is one out of the seven initiatives announced by HKMA last September that aims propel Hong Kong into the age of smart banking. Its goal is to drive competitiveness in the banking sector, encourage innovation, and keep up with the global banking movements that demand consumer convenience and more streamlined processes. The aforementioned respondents had a positive opinion on the API, and were more interested in clarifications or…

China’s Internet finance industry has boomed in recent years. The country leads the world when it comes to total users and market size, and fintech startups are mushrooming. China contributes to some of the world’s largest investments in the fintech sector, and now hosts 9 of the 27 fintech unicorns. The likes of Alipay, Lufax and ZhongAn Insurance have made their names across the globe and grown in reach and popularity by developing some of the most disruptive business models. Chinese fintech companies raised a staggering US$1.33 billion in 2017. Here are 16 of the country’s top investors and venture…

Trade finance, where financial institutions provide credit facilities in order to guarantee exchange of goods, is a centuries old industry that is hampered by challenges such poor customer experience, increasing cost pressure and substantial regulatory burden. With its manual, cumbersome and often expensive processes, trade finance is ripe for disruption. Blockchain to increase efficiency One technology in particular that’s been praised for its potential to drive efficiencies, reduce cost and open up new revenue opportunities in trade finance is blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DTL). Among the key advantages, financial documents linked and accessible through blockchain can be reviewed…

Hong Kong, an international finance hub, has set out to become a leader in fintech with the Hong Kong government and regulators actively supporting the growth of the industry. Today, the city hosts over 130 fintech startups, offers three fintech sandboxes for firms and startups to test innovative financial products, and counts four fintech-focused accelerators. A lot has happened since the beginning of year as Hong Kong maintains its fintech momentum. Here’s a roundup of the key fintech developments and announcements of the first half of 2018: Hong Kong budget to boost fintech In his annual budget speech in…

Unsurprisingly, with fintech giants like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings, Chinese cities nabbed top spots in a new Global Fintech Hub Index 2018 (GFHI). Meanwhile Hong Kong ranked 13th in a list compiled to portray global fintech landscapes based on insights from governments, enterprises and consumers across world. Fintech hubs typically thrive on growing technological adoption by a diverse range of participants, a globalised market, real-time services and a generally flat organisational structure. Indicators of successful fintech hubs include the availability of demand, capital, talent, and policy regulation within the city. These ultimately help fintech hubs fulfill their potential of becoming…

Following the completion of its three-month pilot scheme in Hong Kong, UK-based international fintech remittance firm, TransferWise will now fully launch their service for both business and personal use here. TransferWise’ Thrust into Hong Kong TransferWise’s scalable business model has reached over 3 million customers so far. Prior to its Hong Kong launch, TransferWise has also set up it APAC hub in Singapore. With over 4% of Hong Kong’s 7 million residents originating from other countries, Hong Kong represents a lucrative-enough market for TransferWise’s next leg of expansion. “We have also applied for a Stored Value Facility license through Hong…

Alibaba-backed MYbank, a Chinese online bank with a focus on lending, announced that it will be opening up its artificial intelligence, computing and risk management capabilities to financial institutions in China, in what is called their Star Plan. Through these provisions, the bank hopes to help 1,000 financial institutions provide more cost-effective financing to SMEs and China’s farmers within the next 3 years. MYbank is an online bank that offers its services entirely on the cloud, without any physical branches. The aforementioned technology developed by MYbank helps them increase efficiency and reduce cost, with claims that it helps customer service as…