New research from RBR shows that there were 16 billion payment cards in circulation at the end of 2018, up by 10% since a year earlier. RBR’s Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2024 research indicates that financial inclusion initiatives are driving growth in the payment cards market, as governments, particularly in developing countries, encourage people to enter the banking system. The largest scheme worldwide is UnionPay, which accounted for 45% of cards in circulation at the end of 2018, up one percentage point on the previous year. However, if China is excluded, UnionPay accounts for only 1% of…

Hong Kong has climbed its way to be shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s best fintech hubs. The recent report on global fintech hubs by Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance indicates that Hong Kong ranks among the top 10 around the world. Between 2014 to 2018, Hong Kong’s fintechs have raised over a total of US$ 1.1 billion, making Hong Kong the 4th top destination for fintech investment in Asia Pacific. Perhaps the best evidence of Hong Kong’s appeal can be best illustrated by the large number of innovative home-grown startups and international big-name fintechs all clamoring for…

Quantifeed, a provider of digital wealth management solutions, has partnered with Everbright Sun Hung Kai to launch a robo-investment solution. The new platform, called EBSHK Direct AI-Portfolio Investing, enables retail investors in Hong Kong to easily access a diverse set of portfolios of Hong Kong stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). EBSHK Direct AI-Portfolio Investing provides investors access to an entire portfolio of 5 to 20 Hong Kong stocks or Hong Kong ETFs developed using smart analytics and quantitative research. The portfolios allow customers to invest in multi-asset strategies and topical investment themes, and are rebalanced on a regular basis to…

The wait is over! You may now check out the full programme of Hong Kong FinTech Week’s main conference on Nov 6-7, 2019. What should you expect from this year’s event? The FinTech Week will be featuring over 200 speakers from 28 countries, who will be sharing their insights across six stages within two days of the event. The six major programme tracks consist of over 75 hours of high quality content, covering all key developments across different verticals of the financial technology industry in Hong Kong / China, Asia and globally. Here are the top 10 reasons why you…

AMTD is reportedly keen to apply for Singapore’s virtual banking license. In an interview with local Singaporean media, its CEO Calvin Choi expressed that AMTD is very interested in Singapore and that they see this as a great opportunity to serve more Asian customers. In a JV with Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, the company successfully secured a virtual banking license in Hong Kong. AMTD and Xiaomi’s virtual bank in Hong Kong is known as Insight Fintech and is expected to launch by 2020. AMTD is not the only virtual bank from Hong Kong interested in Singapore, Ping An’s OneConnect who…

One of Asia’s largest fintech events the Hong Kong Fintech Week is returning from November 4 to 8. This year’s program will cover key themes including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, fintech in China, Greater Bay Area collaboration, and virtual banking. It is expected to attract over thousands of executives, entrepreneurs, investors and regulators from China, Asia and across the world to discuss some of the industry’s biggest trends and challenges. This year’s Hong Kong week will feature over 200 speakers representing the likes of TransferWise, Kabbage, Credit Karma, Tencent, Lufax, and Ping An, as well as investors, policymakers and academics,…

Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority announced on Tuesday that it has granted the first authorization for virtual general insurance under Fast Track. The license was granted to Avo, a local insurtech company providing products like health and travel insurance. The Fast Track scheme was introduced by the IA in September 2017 to provide a dedicated queue for newcomers seeking to operate solely through digital distribution channels. Applicants for Fast Track authorization must possess an innovative and robust business model, while satisfying all the prevailing regulatory requirements on solvency, capital and local asset requirements to ensure the interests of policy holders are…

SWIFT and HSBC announced today they are joining forces to define a common industry-standard JSON for APIs, re-using ISO 20022 components, the initiative will see the Hong Kong banking community working together to review and agree on this standard. In July 2018, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority introduced its Open API Framework, to facilitate the development and broader adoption of APIs by the banking sector. Since its launch, over 500 APIs have been made available by the 20 participating banks. The new standard allows merchants to setup direct debit authorisation and initiate the collection instruction to bank on behalf of…

American online money transfer firm PayPal recently secured approval from the People’s Bank of China to purchase a stake in local payments firm GoPay. Paypal acquired 70% GoPay for an undisclosed sum and the transaction is expected to be closed in the next months. This is consistent with China’s central bank’s earlier announcement in March 2018 that it would open its market to allow for foreign companies to operate payments systems in China. While it is encouraging to see the Chinese government open up the market for a fair and open competition which will ultimately benefit consumers, it is unclear…

Speaking at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers Conference yesterday, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of HKMA, Arthur Yuen said that Hong Kong’s new virtual banks could potentially soft launch some of its services in the fourth quarter of this year. He did not specifically name the virtual banks who are potentially launching their services in the next few months but WeLab’s CEO Simon Loong revealed in an interview during the sidelines of the RISE conference that he’s looking to launch by this year. Meanwhile, Infinitum which is owned by Tencent, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, Hillhouse Capital and Perfect Ridge…

In a letter responding to German legislator, Fabio De Masi, Facebook has revealed the breakdown of its basket of global currency that will underpin its digital coin, Libra. According to a report by Reuters, the US Dollar will make up 50% of the basket, while China’s Yuan will not be included in the list. The report speculated that the exclusion of China’s yuan could potentially smooth the path for Libra in the United States where there’s a growing tension between the two economies. The report added that the rest of the global currency bucket is as follows; the euro with…

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been all the rage these past years. Now even central banks are looking to launch their own digital currency. So-called central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) differ from traditionally digital currencies like bitcoin and ether in the sense that the latter are not issued by the state and lack the legal tender status declared by the government. Over the past years, governments and central banks have been studying and testing CBDCs to realize the many positive implications these could contribute in the areas of financial inclusion, economic growth and technology innovation. While the Bank of England is…

UnionPay, the world largest card scheme formed a partnership with Wirecard a global player in the payments space. This agreement will see Wirecard supporting UnionPay’s ongoing international expansion and Wirecard’s growth in China. With over 7.59 billion cards issued under its brand, amounting to 57.6% of the world’s payment cards in circulation according to the Nilson Report, UnionPay leads the global card scheme market. The cooperation between Wirecard and UnionPay will focus on expanding the global acceptance of UnionPay as a digital payment method across all channels — a continuation of UnionPay’s ongoing efforts to expand outside of Mainland China.…

Hong Kong-licensed Legacy Trust Company Limited is launching a digital asset pension plan; a voluntary pension plan available to employers and the self-employed, where the contributions and underlying asset portfolio can include digital assets alongside fiat currencies. According to the company, the digital asset pension is structured as a non-vested trust, it’s fully compliant with Hong Kong regulations and it’s available to members residing anywhere in the world, provided that they are gainfully employed. The pension is funded by voluntary contributions made by an employee, employer or deducted directly from a salary, on a frequency of their choice. It is…

Lumiere and FinFabrik have joined forces bringing their business and technical expertise together to tokenise a co-investment into a film titled ‘Papicha’. By having their equity participation digitalised, investors will have the opportunity in the future to transfer or sell it to other investors who want to have access to an alternative asset. ‍‘Papicha’ is a progressive film directed by Mounia Meddour, produced by Xavier Gens and Gregoire Gensollen from The Ink Connection, and Patrick Andre from High Sea Productions, and distributed worldwide by Jour2Fête; it premiered in Cannes earlier this year and has been selected to represent Algeria for…

Line Securities Corporation, a joint venture between Asian financial services group Nomura Holdings and Line Financial Corporation, the financial services arm of Internet firm Line Corporation, has launched a new mobile investment service targeted at younger, digital-savvy generations. The new service aims to make investing more accessible to a wide range of clients by providing users with an easy and convenient securities and trading service that’s accessible from the Line messaging app. The Line platform counts some 165 million monthly active users. According to a press release, dated August 20 from Line, the service was designed to offer maximum simplicity,…

Ping An Insurance and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) have entered into an agreement to develop cooperation and collaboration in fintech and data analytics. The purpose of the MOU is to enhance the financial market ecosystem of the region. Ping An Group Chairman and CEO, Peter Ma, joined HKEX Chief Executive, Charles Li, at a signing ceremony, in Shenzhen at the Ping An Finance Center, Futian. The signing of the MOU marks the beginning of a collaborative journey between Ping An Group and HKEX which seek to explore opportunities to collaborate in initiatives covering the Great Bay Area that…

Crypto.com announced the promotion of Eric Anziani to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Eric joined Crypto.com in January 2018 and was the Senior Vice President of Group Strategy. Previously known as MCO, Crypto.com is best known for their Mastercard-enabled crypto wallet. The company said in a media statement that, Eric has been instrumental in the conceptualization and implementation of the company’s major initiatives, in particular the Crypto.com Chain. As COO, Eric will provide company-wide leadership, management and vision, as he helps guide Crypto.com in the execution of growth-focused strategies. Kris Marszalek, Co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com said, “Eric leads…

Joint Electronic Teller Services Limited (“JETCO”) today announced its collaboration with  insurtech provider CoverGo to build car insurance API platforms that will offer price comparison, online applications, claiming and a range of other innovative features based on JETCO APIX, an open API (application programming interface) exchange platform.  According to government statistics there are more than 680,000 private cars and motorcycles in Hong Kong as of the end of 2018 with new registration of private cars amounting to over 40,000 annually over the past 3 years. This represents an attractive market for local car insurance providers. Yet consumers generally believe that…

China has been quick to embrace facial recognition, a technology that’s already being used for making payments at numerous shops, supermarkets and restaurants. The latest development in the field comes from China’s Internet giant Tencent, which showcased last month, at the Chongqing Smart China Expo, a new device supporting facial recognition payments, reports TechNode. Called the Frog Pro, the point-of-sale (POS) machine allows shoppers to make transactions by scanning their face at checkout. The device is equipped with 10.1-inch double-sided screen, a 3D depth-sensing camera for the facial recognition payment function, and a QR code scanner. Tencent said the double-sided…