KPMG’s 2017 study on global technology innovation hubs found that China is quickly catching up to the US in terms of its potential for disruptive breakthroughs. In a survey conducted by KPMG among global tech innovation leaders, 23 percent of them indicated that China shows the most promise for disruptive technology breakthroughs that will deliver the most global impact. The US is still the biggest force in innovation, with 26 percent of leaders indicating as such. KPMG said this trend boils down to its shift from manufacturing to services. Innovation is led by its large mobile and digitally savvy consumer…

Tencent, a leading Internet company in China best known for its popular platforms QQ and Weixin/WeChat, is the most active corporate investor in Asia’s burgeoning tech scene, having made over 30 investments to VC-backed tech companies in Asia since Q1’16. The company has backed the highest number of Chinese unicorns of 15, according to a new report by CB Insights. Asia currently hosts 62 unicorns, which make up US$283.5 billion in private value. China alone has 46 of these unicorns, among which 21 are backed by four of the country’s largest Internet firms: Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com and Tencent. “Five companies…

There are some big news from Asia IoT scene last week, such as Cybersecurity Rules Proposed for Hong Kong Securities Industry, Introducing robots in hotels in Singapore as well as Sharp commits $1b to SoftBank’s $90b-plus fund in IoT push. Below we have listed out the top 8 IoT news around Asia for this week: ALPHAGO’S CHINA SHOWDOWN: WHY IT’S TIME TO EMBRACE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE May 21, 2017 To err is human. Yet it is a sign of how far computer programming has come that to err is also to be artificially intelligent. When IBM Deep Blue won its six-game…

Hong Kong and China Fintech scenes have been booming latterly. There are some big news from these two fintech communities this week, such as China Central Bank sets up fintech committee, Alibaba invests in its first fintech company in Hong Kong as well as UK regulator signs fintech co-operation deal with Hong Kong equivalent. Below we have listed out the top 8 fintech news from Hong Kong and China for this week: Chinese regulator focuses on fintech May 16, 2017 The Chinese fintech industry has gone from strength to strength as funding volumes boom and fintech giants proliferate, prompting the…

Tired of crawling the Internet to find the hottest fintech events in your region? Need not worry. Today we’ve compiled a list of the 12 most important upcoming fintech events and conferences in Hong Kong and China, so you don’t need to waste your time browsing the entire Internet to be aware of the next gathering of the world’s leading visionaries, decision makers, and fintech startups. Check out more fintech events in our event calendar and subscribe to our newsletter for all the fintech news and event updates in Hong Kong and China. 12 Upcoming Fintech Events in Hong Kong and China China FinTech…

Although the fintech market in Taiwan is relatively small and still at a very early stage of development, there is huge potential for growth considering Taiwan’s large pool of highly educated and tech-orientated workforce, vigorous entrepreneurship spirit and sophisticated ICT technologies and infrastructures, according to a new report. Taiwan is ranked the 15th in the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-2016, and the 6th in the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Index. These indicators show Taiwan’s advanced innovation-driven economy, and the vigorous innovative activities from the local SMEs and startups. Taiwan is currently implementing a regulatory sandbox and weighting up the choices of different…

A white paper by the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council (HKFSDC) is examining how Hong Kong can develop its blockchain capabilities to serve the region. According to the paper, Hong Kong, with its large financial sector and its strategic role vis-à-vis Mainland China and the world, has the potential to take on an important role in distributed ledger technology (DLT). Investment in DLT would be a crucial step towards preparing Hong Kong across a broader front for a more technology-intense future. Bitcoins are an example on how blockchain works to encrypt financial transactions. Blockchain’s proposition is of a ledger…

The telecoms industry is not immune to disruption, according to a new report by Juvo. As Over-The-Top (OTT) service providers profit from revenue streams, mobile operators are forced to move away from commoditised services like network reach and quality and into new differentiated offerings that leverage subscriber data. On the customer side, they use interactive real-time products that change in response to the behavior from an entire user base, which in the case of Facebook, can correspond to billions of users. This is enabled by data science, which applies advanced mathematical and statistical techniques to big data to uncover insights that…

Fintech is set to transform the financial services landscape and presents both opportunities and challenges. But for Hong Kong to capitalize on the trend and become a leading fintech center within the region and one of the leading centers in the world, it must take proactive steps, according to a new report by the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council. Mainland China is already a fintech leader in terms of scale. Hong Kong, however, and despite its large financial sector, has only a modest showing in the fintech space. “Does [fintech] matter?” the paper asks. “Yes, fintech matters for Hong…

Networking is a pillar of entrepreneurship and there is no simpler and more convenient way to do it than online. With new connections, new ideas, projects and collaborations may just materialise. Shapr, a tool that helps entrepeneurs network by matching them with each other might just be the easiest way to expand your social and business circle. Shapr is an app with an interface similar to a matchmaking app, in which it brings people together based on their interests, location and professional experience. Users will only be connected with each other if both have indicated interest in interacting, leaving no…

An April 2017 Burnmark report rexplored the tie-up between digital wealth and robo-advisory within the FinTech industry. With retail investors demanding for more complex asset classes and investments and increased transparency and control over investments, traditional wealth management firms, more wealth manage firms are joining the digital space and as a result, introducing automated wealth management tools called robo-advisors. Robo-advisory is also growing rapidly especially in exchange-traded fund platforms, said the Burnmark report. Huge market potential for digital wealth A record figure of assets is being transferred inter-generationally from the baby boomers to the current generation. Over the next 30…

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…