A report by Oliver Wyman and IESE Business School suggests that banks should leverage “Design Thinking” to evolve their business models, in an era where traditional ways of doing business are threatened by the prolifetation of fintech. In the financial services industry, there are several long term trends that are reshaping how the industry operates. The trends can be grouped into six areas, namely digital disruptions, increased regulation, changes in customer behaviours and dynamics, a low growth environment with lax monetary policy, increasing competition by fintech players, as well as complex decision making processes. According to the current industry trends,…

A case study by Better than Cash Alliance has presented ways in which the developing world can learn from China when it comes to digital payment modes. The study, titled Social Networks, e-Commerce Platforms, and the Growth of Digital Payment Ecosystems in China: What it Means for Other Countries, examined two of China’s biggest apps WeChat and Alipay, and their role in the development of one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated digital payments ecosystems. The report showed how incorporating digital payments into existing services has unlocked economic opportunities for millions of users, by introducing new services such as…

Distributed ledger technology (DLT), also referred to as blockchain technology, could benefit both customers and banks by providing better banking services to users, while helping financial institutions offer services of greater security, quality and efficiency, according to a report by the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI). Commissioned by the Fintech Facilitation Office (FFO) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the report aims to carry out an in-depth examination of the technology and identify possible applications of DLT to banking services. As part of the research, ASTRI reached out to several banks and industry players including…

Organised by Brinc, KPMG and Invest HK, the founder of Pebble, Eric Migicovsky shared what he learned during his 8-year entrepreneurial journey at Pebble last Thursday evening. From the name “Pebble”, to Kickstarter hero and the whole process of launching the product. Eric shared his lessons learned from Pebble – they launched the product at the very early stage even sold their prototypes and got the feedback from the real customers. The reason for this is that Eric thinks getting validations from friends and family can be very bias as they tend to be more positive and supportive for the…

Banks and asset managers that are first movers in fintech reap big rewards, says a Simmons & Simmons Study. Fintech start-ups has attracted growing investment over the past few years, according to a study titled “Hyperfinance” by Simmons & Simmons and Longitude Research, with global fintech investment reaching a record high of US$46.7 billion in 2015. While it dipped to US$24.6 billion in 2016, corporate venture capital activity was up, as banks and asset managers acquired finance solutions being spearheaded by fintechs, the report noted.  According to Hyperfinance, which surveyed 200 senior-level respondents from large banks and asset managers, only…

Only 51% of Hong Kong institutions have adopted a ‘disruptive’ strategy, compared to 56% globally and 59% in China, according to the PwC Global Fintech Survey 2017. However, 82% of financial institutions in Hong Kong intend to form partnerships with fintech companies in the next three to five years. Hong Kong respondents identified regulatory uncertainty (60%) as the key challenge to fintech innovation. 87% also noted the difficulty of hiring and retaining people who can innovate. Regulatory uncertainties Experts have warned about the risk of Hong Kong falling behind other hubs in terms of fintech development. Ian Wood, a…

Fintech has become a hotly debated topic in Taiwan. To boost the development of financial innovation, regulators and government agencies have committed significant resources to establish dedicated organizations and funding schemes, as well as foster collaboration between market participants. Government push In September 2015, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) officially announced the establishment of its Fintech Office, a platform responsible for the planning and promotion of fintech developments. The office particularly focuses on researching and exploring topics that include digitalization of the financial environment, mobile payment, third party payment, Internet financing (peer-to-peer lending), online investment, and the Internet-of-Things, among others.…

A renowned innovation hub and a global financial center, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to become a launch pad for fintech startups that are looking to tap into the world’s biggest consumer market. According to a survey conducted by EY, Hong Kong has the highest rate of fintech use of all markets surveyed (29.1%), followed by the US (16.5%), Singapore (14.7%), the UK (14.3%), Australia (13%) and Canada (8.2%). Hong Kong also has a strong and supportive community of fintech authorities and investors which have contributed to the development of the local fintech scene and helped nurtured some of the…

Regtech, or regulatory technology, is perceived as one of the hottest trends in the financial services industry for its potential benefits in helping financial institutions meet know-your-customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and countering terrorist financing (CTF) data and reporting requirements, and help banks save millions in related costs. Regtech refers to companies developing technologies that simplify and streamline compliance, risk management, reporting and data management, among other things. In particular, cloud computing, business process outsourcing and Big Data can reduce costs and allow companies to better focus on their core business, says IBS Intelligence. Big Data promises to help banks…

Ecommerce in Hong Kong is rapidly improving, with the latest market size showing consistent growth and average spend per user is also up. A whole 80% of all consumers now transact or research online. A lot of consumers in Hong Kong looks online to find the material of need and the frequently habit of shopping will maybe surprise. Take a look below, to see the infographic, that will give you key insights in statistics and trends for the way ecommerce consumers in Hong Kong acts. Article first appeared visual.ly

The way in which we bank is changing. Bricks and mortar branches are expensive to run with high rents, salaries, and dedicated tech installations. Some of the challenger banks have no physical presence and there is an abundance of customers who no longer want or need to go into branch. They are more than happy to swap the branch queue for digital banking. In fact, as demand for high street services decreases, banks are closing their doors. HSBC shut 1000 branches in 2015/2016 alone according to a report by the BBC which represented 27% of its network. HSBC are by…

Bitcoin is payment system invented in 2008. It is described as the first decentralized digital currency and is presently the largest of its kind in terms of total market value.  Futurism made a nice Infographic that takes you through the history of bitcoin, here is how it looks like. Article first appeared on futurism.com

Healthy growth and climbing income levels will continue to fuel demand for insurance products and greater innovation in Asia-Pacific (APAC), according to EY. The rise of millennials and advances in digital technology are raising customer expectations for innovative insurance products and digitally-enabled business models. More specifically, the growing demand for technology-driven solutions will push insurers to enhance digital capabilities. They will leverage digital technology to reach new clients, up-sell insurance services to existing ones, and enhance digital interfaces between sales agents and customers. With nearly two-thirds of the population of APAC now using smartphone, insurtech is expected to grow quickly…

CoAssets a crowdfunding platform specialising in facilitating funding for real estate and small to medium‐sized enterprises, is pleased to announce that it has signed a non‐binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to invest in Fintech Pte Ltd, a Hong Kong Fintech company. Fintech Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Brighten Management Limited, owns Piggiebank, an online platform that provides users with investment products. Piggiebank has raised more than S$8m (~HKD44million) over 12 months, and has an indicative valuation of S$20m. “We are very excited to invest in Fintech Pte Ltd.    This partnership is an important step to growing CoAssets beyond our current…

As the financial technology (fintech) industry begins to boom, many people from within and from outside the industry are calling for regulations to be examined and brought up to date. China and particularly Hong Kong is a world leader in fintech, this is because of its financial services heritage and its cutting-edge investment and tech industry. Companies including  CreditEase, a $1bn investment fund, and of course Alibaba are making huge waves around the world, including the USA where CreditEase have recently announced several major investments in fintech companies. Research suggests that all the main players in the world of financial…

It is a brilliant time to be an investor, as the costs of trading in terms of expenses is cheaper than ever. Furthermore, investment strategies that were once only commercially feasible for large institutional funds, are now available to all investors via the likes of low-cost mutual funds. The amateur investors now have more opportunity to be successful than ever before due to the volume of data available and the power of investment software which provides information to aid decision making. How does this compare to financial advice? Despite the best efforts of the regulators such as the FCA, the…

Xhai Studios (“Xhai”) an innovative mobile game developer and publisher, announced today that it will be using a new and promising blockchain technology to be incorporated into its platform services that it is developing. Blockchain technology is a cost-efficient technology that not only serves the financial industry well, but it can also be a transformative technology when applied to the video gaming industry. Game developers can now distribute their products on a new type of platform that is more direct, effective and cost efficient, thereby giving flexibility to both the developer and the gamer. Xhai shall be using the revolutionary…

Jim Marous, from The Financial Brand, describes the integrated fintech experiences of the future at Next Money 2017 Fintech Finals. https://thefinancialbrand.com/63285/banking-internet-of-things-iot-data-analytics-payments/ http://fintechnews.sg/7948/iot/internet-things-poised-disrupt-banking-insurance/ Featured Picture via FinancialBrand, https://thefinancialbrand.com/63285/banking-internet-of-things-iot-data-analytics-payments/

Gini has chosen data-aggregation specialist eWise to deliver Hong Kong’s first ever customer relationship management platform to create customer loyalty programs through the secure aggregation of end-user’s credit cards and bank accounts. Gini is an online-to-offline digital commerce technology that enables merchants and marketers to target loyalty and rewards based on actual transaction data from banks, and represents a technological breakthrough for marketers, who have long struggled to properly target consumers in a market dominated by offline spending. Launching in Hong Kong in Q2 2017, the CRM platform will help merchants identify and reward customers with discounts, offers and incentives…

Loyyal, the leading blockchain network for the loyalty and rewards industry, today announced a client and value-added reseller relationship with Quidam Ltd., an Asia-based (Hong Kong) provider of next generation data brokering and analytics solutions based on A.I. and blockchain technology for the media industry. As a client, Quidam will run a number of pilots on the Loyyal platform, testing and leveraging the unique capabilities of blockchain technology for the delivery of its services as a digital marketing agency to its clients. The pilots discussed focus on mass media and global gaming companies and will become available in the first…