Social trading, an online trend quickly picking up traction across financial markets, has become a lucrative way for traders to earn money. Social trading refers to a new and innovative process through which online financial investors rely on user generated financial content gathered from various applications as the major information source for making financial decisions. Prior to social trading, investors and traders were relying on fundamental or technical analysis to form their investment decisions. Now, through social trading, they can integrate social indicators from trading data-feeds of other traders into their investment decision-process. Image credit: hin255 via Shutterstock.com Social trading…

InvestHK revealed some of the key highlights to watch out for during the upcoming 2017 StartmeupHK Festival, which covers retail technology, fashion technology, smart city, fintech and digital health, with more than 80 speakers who will be involved in panel sessions, interactive discussions, competitions and speaking events. The StartmeupHK Festival, running from January 16 to January 20, is the second event of its kind organised by InvestHK and this year will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and at PMQ in Central. It is expected to attract founders, innovators and investors, both locally and…

ReadWrite Labs (formerly Wearable IoT World Labs) built a six-week boot camp accelerator program specifically designed to give you the information, skills, and connections you and your team need to get to market faster, smarter, and prepared to achieve global success. IoT Accelerator is a six-week boot camp accelerator program specifically designed to give you the information, skills, and connections you and your team need to get to market faster, smarter, and prepared to achieve global success. Apply now for the January 17, 2017 boot camp program. “Wearable World catapulted Grush to success by giving us the expert mentorship and tools we…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) jointly launched the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme (FCAS) on December 16 to nurture talents to meet the growing needs of fintech in Hong Kong. FCAS is supported by 11 banks and nine universities*. It aims to provide practical internship for undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in developing their careers in the fintech industry. The launching ceremony of FCAS took place today at the HKMA and was jointly hosted by the Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Norman Chan, and the Chairman of ASTRI, Mr Wong Ming-yam. Officiating…

The following 24 Fintech startups will be competing for their chance at the coveted Best in Show prize of US$10,000 at the Fintech Finals 2017 (FF17) pitch competition at PMQ in Hong Kong on January 19, 2017. Each startup will have just 5 minutes to pitch their business in front of industry judges and a live audience. Next Money FinTech Finals 2017 is part of the StartmeupHK Festival organised by Invest Hong Kong. Special Offer: Get 20% Off with registering With Code “FINTECHNEWSSG20“ Trophies will also be given out for the following categories: Best Early Stage Startup, Best Growth Stage Startup and Best Mature Stage Startup. Ten of…

Guests are now welcomed to use Apple Pay, Android Pay and Alipay at Hotel Panorama by Rhombus and Hotel Pennington by Rhombus, while Apple Pay and Android Pay are also available at Hotel LKF by Rhombus. Following the success of launching the new payment systems at Rhombus Park Aura Chengdu Hotel, Rhombus Group became the first Hong Kong hotel group to ever launch Apple Pay in the local market. Instead of the traditional payment methods with cash or credit card, guests now have the option to use Apple Pay, Android Pay and Ali Pay via smart phones. Considering individual travelers’…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) entered into a Co-operation Agreement (Agreement) on 7 December 2016 to foster collaboration between the two regulatory authorities in promoting financial innovation. According to the Agreement, the HKMA and the FCA will closely collaborate on a number of initiatives such as referrals of fintech firms, joint innovation projects, information exchange and experience sharing, to facilitate financial innovation in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. For Hong Kong, the Agreement is a key initiative of the Fintech Facilitation Office (FFO) of the HKMA. It presents significant opportunities for…

8 Securities, Asia’s first robo-advisor launched Chloe on Google Play and the Apple App Store. The service is free for accounts under HK$8,888. How does Chloe work? Customers start by answering a short survey to set goals and a target date to achieve them. Each dollar the customer deposits is intelligently invested into a diversified global portfolio of exchange traded funds. Chloe monitors and optimizes the investment on a daily basis to help customers stay on track. Chloe becomes more intelligent over time by using machine learning to better predict customers goal and how much they need to save. “We…

VeChain, a product management platform built on top of the blockchain, officially launched at an event in Shanghai. “This is the day we have been working towards for more than three years. Our whole team is devoted to transforming this disruptive technology into practical applications. This launch is VeChain saying ‘Hello, World!’” said Sunny Lu, COO and co-founder of BitSE. VeChain aims to be a bridge between the blockchain world and the real world by linking products with a unique ID and embedding that product with an NFC chip, RFID tag or QR code that is associated with the ID…

To broaden Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited’s (Cyberport) one-stop entrepreneurial support to FinTech start-ups and companies, Cyberport today celebrated the opening of Smart-Space FinTech, a 35,000 square feet, all-encompassing co-working space tailor-made for FinTech start-ups and companies. First announced in the 2016 Policy address, Smart-Space FinTech is a testament to Cyberport’s commitment to accelerate FinTech transformation and development in Hong Kong. Mr Nicholas Yang, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, HKSAR Government, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, JP, Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology, HKSAR Government, Ir Allen Yeung, Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government, Dr David Chung, Under Secretary for…

Pan-European payments provider SIX and Chinese mobile payments pioneer Alipay respond to a major retail trend by planning to support merchants in tapping into the potential of millions of new customers. Users of the popular Chinese payment App Alipay will soon be able to pay at SIX payment terminals across Europe. SIX Payment Services and Alipay, the third-party payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, announced their close cooperation for the acceptance of POS and E- Commerce payments across Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Alipay’s payment service will be integrated into the payment application of…

Neat, a neo-bank in Hong Kong, will start releasing invites to its app at its beta events on December 07, 08 and 13. Announced earlier this year, the new service promises a new banking experience that is entirely digital targeted at millennials. “We started building Neat because lots of people aren’t getting the help they deserve when it comes to managing their finances,” the company says. “Especially young people get ignored by traditional financial institutions – because they are unprofitable customers. As a result, there are very few products that serve their needs. So we set out to make a…

World Marketing Congress has awarded this year’s Top 100 Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders Award to Jack Cheng today. The award is set to be presented to Mr. Cheng on 24th of November in India at the third edition of the World Marketing Congress Awards. The ceremony is taking place on 24th and 25th November 2016 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Jack Cheng is the Head of Marketing at ANX INTERNATIONAL, an Industrial Giant in the Fintech and Blockchain spaces. This award is a global recognition of the achievements. Jack Cheng is the only marketer from Hong Kong receiving the…

Societe Generale announces a new agreement with Smartkarma, a curated online platform for investment insight focused on the Asian markets. Under this global agreement, Societe Generale will provide its institutional clients access to a new form of equity research based on demand driven and customised content provided by the industry’s highly ranked analysts, academics, data scientists and strategists. Societe Generale is the first  investment bank to have an agreement with an emerging fintech company to provide equity research that is compliant with evolving research unbundling requirements, such as MiFID II. Smartkarma’s rapidly growing platform currently provides access to over 100 investment…

Asia Pacific is leading the world in mobile payment with over half (53%) of connected consumers using their mobiles to pay for goods or services at point of sale via apps, in comparison to 33% in North America and 35% in Europe. Rising mobile penetration is a clear driver, with the number of smartphone users across Asia Pacific now numbering over a billion[i]. In addition, the evolution of Asian chat apps to include payment options and the lack of legacy banking structures in the region have accelerated the uptake of the behaviour amongst consumers. According to Connected Life, the latest…

Hong Kong’s leading international financial hub and proximity to China have driven the development of the city’s fintech sector, propelling Hong Kong to the rank of the world’s top fifth fintech hubs in the world, according to Deloitte. The government of Hong Kong has placed fintech as one of its top priorities, announcing in September a Fintech Innovation Hub as well as regulatory sandbox aimed at spurring banks to embrace technology. “Technology has provided many new and very convenient means to conduct financial transactions, ranging from the basic payment and banking services to the more sophisticated trading and investment activities,”…

CREST has announced that it is collaborating with the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB) and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) to deliver its high-level cybersecurity accreditations and examinations across Hong Kong from December 2016. CREST provides internationally recognised accreditation for organisations and individuals providing penetration testing, cyber incident response and threat intelligence services. From December, CREST will be working closely with both HKIB and ASTRI to develop tailored assurance programmes aligned to the needs of the dynamic Hong Kong market. Rowland Johnson, director of CREST international, commented: “We are delighted to be working…

Adyen, the payments company powering global commerce for Uber, Facebook and Netflix amongst others, today announced that it has added WeChat Pay to its portfolio of local payments methods. It’s the first major payment service provider to integrate WeChat Pay into its offering on a global scale – providing businesses with access to 400 million Chinese shoppers. China is at the forefront of the revolution in mobile payments that is powering global ecommerce growth. 15% of China’s total population is expected to make a cross-border purchase by the end of 2016 – amounting to $86 billion in transaction value. By…

The inaugural Hong Kong Fintech Week (November 7 to 11) attracted more than 2 500 participants and an array of international financial technologies (Fintech) companies and start-ups looking to grow their business, as well as accelerators, incubators and investors searching for opportunities and innovation. The week saw more than 100 Fintech experts share their experience and insights on Fintech at events held at PMQ and across the city, all supported hosted by the Hong Kong Government. With support from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), along with Accenture, Cyberport, Finnovasia, the Hong Kong…

CompareAsiaGroup, a leading financial comparison service in Southeast Asia, is about to raise US$25 million from the World Bank Group’s private equity arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC said in the filing that the proposed investment in CompareAsiaGroup “aligns with IFC’s contribution to the World Bank Group goals by addressing access gaps to financial services through the use of financial technology.” It continued: “The company’s service will not only improve financial literacy to a broader audience but will also contribute to lowering cost of financial services and products in the market by increasing competitive pressure in the sector and help…