34 companies from Asia have been named among this year’s top 100 global fintech innovators, according to H2 Ventures and KPMG’s latest Fintech100 ranking. Seven of them made the top ten list, showcasing Asia’s growing dominance on the global fintech scene. In region, China was the most represented country with 10 companies, followed by India (8), Singapore and Japan (4 respectively), Vietnam, South Korea, and Indonesia (2 respectively), and Thailand and Cambodia (1 respectively). Of all the verticals, payments seem to be dominating the list with 27 payments and transaction companies making it the list. This is followed by wealth…

China’s leading mobile payments platform Alipay announced that its services are now finally available to international travelers in China. Tourists visiting China will now be able to download and use the app during the trip giving them access to Alipay’s cashless payment. This is much welcome news as mobile payments are the norm in China, where virtually every business in the country prefers cashless payments. Prior to this announcement, users required a local phone number and a Chinese bank account to access Alipay, which barred many tourists from using the app. In a note to media, Alipay said that inbound…

As much as 13% of banks’ payments revenue in China, or US$61 billion, is likely to be displaced by the growth of digital payments and competition from non-banks, as payments become more instant, invisible and free, according to a new report from Accenture. The report found that payments revenue in the Chinese mainland will likely grow at an annual rate of 9.1%, from about US$292 billion in 2019 to US$494 billion by 2025, while in the Hong Kong  that’s set to rise at a 2.1% rate from US$9.5 billion to US$10.7 billion. Only banks that change their business models to…

In 2013, ZhongAn was established as the first online-only insurance company in China. Since then, the insurance industry has undergone tremendous changes driven by advances in technology. China’s insurance market has grown rapidly over the past few years. In 2017, total primary premiums in China hit RMB 3.1 trillion, making the nation the second largest insurance market in the world, according to a report by ZhongAn Fintech Institute and KPMG China, titled Insurtech: Infrastructure for New Insurance. Online insurance has achieved even faster growth, with online insurance premiums increasing by nearly twentyfold over the last five years from RMB 11.07…

China’s appetite for blockchain has surged after Chinese president Xi Jinping proclaimed the technology as an “important breakthrough” and said “greater effort should be made to strengthen basic research and boost innovation capacity.” The Communications Industry Association, an affiliate of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is proposing that October 24 become the designated day to celebrate blockchain, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. “It’s a milestone for us, as blockchain researchers, to carry out related projects and support the real economy,” the committee said. “[President Xi] blew the horn of progress for the…

OpenLegacy a provider of microservices-based API integration and management for core and legacy systems, announced that it has raised a total funding of US$ 50 Million to date with the latest round being led by Hong Kong based Silverhorn Investment Advisors. Open Legacy’s new Hong Kong office aims to target large financial institutions with the goal of helping them “unlock their legacy systems so that they can become truly digital.” They have also expanded their business into the Asia Pacific/Japan region and hired Joseph Wong as its new General Manager to lead the charge. Prior to Open Legacy, Joseph was…

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…