Ant Group, a leading provider of financial services technology, and the parent company of China’s largest mobile payments business Alipay, today officially launched AntChain, a new technology brand for the company’s blockchain-based solutions that also aggregates other digital technologies including AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and secure computation. “Since our inception, building trust has been core to our offer to customers,” said Eric Jing, Executive Chairman, Ant Group. “We believe in blockchain’s potential to redefine trust in the digital age, and in solving real-life problems for our customers.” Since 2015, Ant Group has been investing significantly in the…

Equinix, the global interconnection and data center company, has completed the third phase expansion of HK4, one of its five International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers in Hong Kong with an investment of US$51 million (approximately HK$364 million). HK4 provides increased capacity for customers in Hong Kong with this expansion phase. With an additional 1,000 cabinets added to the facility, HK4 now has a total capacity of 1,500 cabinets and will further add 3,000 cabinets in future phases. The acceleration in digital transformation continues to drive the demand for data centers and interconnection in Hong Kong. According to a recent market…

Episode Six, a next-generation financial technology provider, today announced that it has secured US$7 million of its Series A funding. The round was led by HSBC and includes investments from Mastercard and SBI Investment Co., Ltd., which first invested in Episode Six through its FinTech Business Innovation Fund in 2017. “Financial institutions and innovators in other industries like healthcare are beginning to realize the constraints of legacy technology, especially given the increasing demand for new products and streamlined efficiencies,” said Episode Six CEO John Mitchell. “We have developed financial technology which, via more than 500 APIs, facilitates that next level of configurability…

Ant Group, the parent company of China’s largest mobile payments business Alipay and leading provider of financial services technology, today announced that it has commenced the process of a concurrent initial public offering (“IPO”) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR board (“SSE STAR” market) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “SEHK”). The listings will help the company accelerate its goal of digitizing the service industry in China and driving domestic demand, as well as position the company to develop global markets with partners and expand investment in technology and innovation. “The innovative measures implemented by SSE STAR…

WeLab Bank, a homegrown virtual bank licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), will launch a numberless bank card that is powered by MasterCard While WeLab Bank services are designed to be 100% operated from the mobile phone, a physical card may have wider acceptance and provide added convenience to consumers’ daily lives, such as when making payments at certain merchants or withdrawing cash. Unlike traditional bank cards, the WeLab Debit Card is available for use immediately after opening an account where a virtual card would be available on the app, followed by the delivery of a physical card.…

HSBC has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for a long-term strategic cloud agreement to drive their digital transformation for new and personalised banking services. As part of a multi-year global agreement, HSBC will make AWS technology available across the bank’s lines of business to automate key processes and enhance operational efficiency with their customer-facing applications and Global Wealth & Personal Banking business. HSBC will use AWS’s extensive portfolio of cloud services, including compute, containers, storage, database, analytics, machine learning and security. The former plans to use AWS serverless and analytics services, including Amazon Kinesis, to create a more personalised…

The quarterly analysis of online fraud trends in Hong Kong by TransUnion found the percentage of suspected fraudulent digital transactions originating in Hong Kong fell by 10% despite a 5% rise globally for the same period. In this quarter, TransUnion analysed fraud trends against businesses to reflect the changing economic environment with COVID-19. It used March 11, 2020 – the date the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic – as a base date for its analysis. “Given the billions of people globally that have been forced to stay at home, industries have been disrupted in…

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. announced that its subsidiary Ping An Bank Co., Ltd. (“Ping An Bank”) ranks 46th on the list of The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks which is up nine places from last year. The Banker, owned by the Financial Times, is published annually where global leaders in the industry are recognised for their achievements. Banks are assessed by Tier 1 capital, assets, capital/asset ratio, real profit growth, profit on average capital and return on assets. Other top banks on the 2020 list include: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, JP…

OneDegree Global, an insurtech firm with presence in Hong Kong and Taipei, announced today that it has launched IXT Core, an enterprise-grade core insurance platform that powers digital transformation for insurers, MGAs and brokers. OneDegree is being as a virtual insurer who offers pet insurance, they secured their virtual insurance license earlier in April. In 2019, they completed a US$ 30 million funding round which was led by BitRock Capital and it sees participation from Cyberport Macro Fund. The insurtech startup claims that the IXT Core upends the traditional insurance business model by streamlining the entire value chain, introducing automation…

A new report by iResearch Consulting Group indicates that the total size of third-party mobile payment transactions in China reduced by 4% for the first time in the first quarter of 2020 to compared to the same period last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the drop, data from 2020 Q1 Chinese Third-party Mobile Payments Market Report shows that Ant Group’s Alipay has retained its leadership position with a steady increase over the last four quarters, rising to 55.4% market share, a 1.6% increase year-on-year. Tencent’s Tenpay which owns WeChat Pay and QQ Wallet comes in second…

AMK, the provider of microfinance services in Cambodia, and EMQ, a global financial settlement network, have teamed up to facilitate cross-border money transfer across Southeast Asia. This partnership enables AMK to integrate with EMQ’s extensive global network for secure, compliant cross-border solutions, making financial services more accessible and inclusive for their customers and families across the region. With a  track record  and global reach, EMQ recently ramped up its network expansion across Asia Pacific, Africa and North America, with access to over 80 key global markets. Max Liu, co-founder and CEO of EMQ said “By connecting AMK directly to our…

WeLab has been named #11 on the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, and was the only company included from Hong Kong and just one of five from Asia. This is WeLab’s first appearance on this list of private companies who are innovating and making impact to change the world across different industries. Of the 50 companies, 15 of them are tech-driven financial services companies, including Stripe, Kabbage, SoFi and Affirm. All these companies share a common goal – to unlock and empower users financially through technology. This latest recognition comes on the heels of WeLab being ranked #2 on Financial Times’…

The People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the Monetary Authority of Macao have implemented a pilot scheme called the Wealth Management Connect to facilitate cross-boundary investment by individual residents in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The scheme has a southbound and a northbound components, depending on the residency of the investors. Under Southbound Wealth Management Connect, residents of the Mainland cities in the GBA can invest in eligible investment products distributed by banks in Hong Kong and Macao by opening designated investment accounts with these banks. Under the Northbound Wealth Management…

Cyberport today announced that it has been commissioned by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to implement the “Fintech Anti-epidemic Scheme for Talent Development” (FAST), established under the second round of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government’s Anti-epidemic Fund. The scheme will open for application starting from 2 July. FAST provides salary subsidies lasting one year for Fintech companies creating new full-time positions, with the aim to generate Fintech-related employment opportunities for finance and technology professionals as well as fresh university graduates. A total quota of 1,000 subsidies will be available and each company can apply for…

Technology is transforming payments, and one of the most widely talked about innovations in this regard has been digital currencies. Despite its growing dominance in international headlines, many who are unfamiliar with the scene find themselves asking “what is a digital currency?” Brought under the spotlight by Bitcoin and later on, the blockchain frenzy, digital currencies have been at the center of attention for their potential to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Though initially affiliated with the dark web and cyber, criminal activities, digital currencies have since moved out of their historical bad reputation to progressively becoming part of the…

MYbank, the digital bank under Ant Group (formely known as Ant Financial) which is part of the Alibaba Group, today announced a five-year plan to reach more small and micro enterprises (SMEs) across China via supply chain finance and rural lending. The five-year plan details MYbank’s aspirations to work with partners across multiple sectors to better serve SMEs across China. Key measures and initiatives MYbank will implement as part of the plan include — leveraging supply chain finance to support 10 million SMEs, working with 2,000 county and village managers for rural lending, collaborate with financial institution partners to distribute…

The use of cloud technology is rapidly catching up in financial services, with PwC calling it one of the major fintech trends for 2020. A Cornerstone Advisors study found that a quarter of financial institutions are planning to invest in or implement cloud computing technologies in 2020. 40% say they’ve already done so, and half of them will enhance or modify what they’ve got. Though adoption is still in its early stages with 22% of all applications running on the cloud, according to Bloomberg, growth is happening at a steady pace. Here we look at six cloud-based services providers offering…

Ping An OneConnect Bank (PAOB) announced its pilot trial under the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox (“FSS”) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”). PAOB is among the 8 virtual banks that have received a license from HKMA to operate. To date, other virtual banks like ZA Bank, WeLab, MOX, Airstar have either soft-launched or fully launched their services in Hong Kong. For its pilot trial, PAOB will invite about 200 selected trade SMEs and approximately 2,000 individual customers in Hong Kong to experience PAOB SME and retail banking services respectively. The virtual bank will be leveraging technology for its parent company…

Manulife Hong Kong today announced the launch of a ‘Virtual Face-to-Face’ agency sales platform for all Manulife individual insurance products in Hong Kong, except investment-linked assurance schemes. Manulife’s Virtual Face-to-Face sales capability enables customers to buy even the most sophisticated long-term insurance policies through the company’s individual insurance agents. The sales process requires no physical meeting or wet-ink signature,. With this digital solution, both new and existing customers can virtually meet with Manulife’s agents via highly secure video chat and purchase a wide range of Manulife individual insurance products. The new insurtech solution is approved by the Insurance Authority through…

American Express announced that its joint-venture in mainland China, Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Company Limited (“Express Company”), has received approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a network clearing license. With this, American Express becomes the first foreign payments network to be licensed to clear RMB transactions in mainland China. The company expects to begin processing transactions later this year. This follows a pattern of China opening up their market to American companies, in October 2019, the People Bank of China approved PayPal’s acquisition of local payments firm GoPay. Express Company is American Express’ joint venture with Lianlian…