In recent years, installing and enabling a virtual private network (VPN) on your personal computer or smart device has gone from a niche luxury to a must-have for many internet users. By masking your IP address and encrypting your online activity, VPNs offer a raft of security, privacy and accessibility benefits that you can scarcely afford to do without. If you’re late to the VPN party and still aren’t sure what all the fuss is about, this handy article will explain what you’re missing. Although not exhaustive in its summary, it should provide an informative introduction to the main advantages…

In Asia-Pacific (APAC), digital wallets are gradually booming in popularity. By 2023, these apps and digital platforms are expected to become the preferred payment method for consumers in Hong Kong and India, a new whitepaper by payment solution provider HPS says. Within the next two years, digital wallets usage will surpass card usage in the two nations, taking a 47% market share in Hong Kong and a 38% market share in India, the report says. In 2019, cards were the preferred payment method in the two countries, representing 40% of transactions in Hong Kong and 31% of transactions in India,…

Hong Kong’s multi-line insurer OneDegree announced a partnership with digital asset exchange HKbitEX to offer protection for its sister company ON1ON’s custody platform. The partnership will ensure that US$100 million of digital assets under management will be protected. OneDegree will cover private key loss and misappropriation due to physical damage to wallets caused by natural events, cybersecurity threats, and employee theft. The insurer is actively developing further solutions to provide comprehensive protection to digital asset participants. These solutions, together with an in-house developed enterprise-grade cybersecurity platform Cymetrics, will help clients understand their cyber exposure and manage their cyber risks. Alvin…

Qupital, a Hong Kong-based financing platform for cross-border e-commerce sellers, announced it has raised US$150 million in a combination of Series B equity funding and a receivables-backed securitisation facility. The Series B round was led by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund (GBA Homeland), with additional capital injections from investors including the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) of the Hong Kong SAR Government, MindWorks Capital, Silverhorn and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. The majority of funds raised will be used to accelerate Qupital’s core lending business to support e-commerce sellers. As part of its five-year plan, the company is set…

ZA Bank announced that starting from today, new users will get their loan application approval results instantly via ZA Bank’s official website, enjoying a seamless and convenient digital finance experience. In order to receive the preliminary approval results in an immediate manner, applicants only have to visit the “Borrow” page on ZA Bank’s website, click “Apply Now”, and then enter basic personal information. The whole journey will take place on one single website, where an application can be completed in as fast as 90 seconds without the need to submit any proof documents. Devon Sin, Co-Head of Retailing Banking at…

Hong Kong Fintech Week 2021’s 2nd day continues to be abuzz with activities, announcements, and sessions with industry leaders. From insurance to crypto-assets, CDBCs here are some of the key highlights from day 2 of Hong Kong Fintech Week. Insurance Authority widens support for Insurtech Mr Clement Cheung, CEO of the Insurance Authority, announced further support for insurtech in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. The Authority is examining the possibility of allowing more users to access the Insurtech Sandbox, launched in 2017, to test innovative ways of doing business. “We are also thinking about enabling an open API…

Neat, the Hong Kong based financial solutions ecosystem for SMEs and Visa today announced the launch of the Neat USD Visa Corporate Card in Hong Kong. Available in both virtual and physical formats, the card will allow entrepreneurs, SMEs and fast-growing companies to make payments in both HKD and USD. Through the Neat ecosystem, entrepreneurs, SMEs and fast-growing companies can incorporate their business in Hong Kong, get access to a fully digital multi-currency Neat Business account with Visa Corporate Cards to allow instant payments to vendors, suppliers and employees, and integrated accounting software to support cashflow and expense management, provided…

Hong Kong’s most anticipated fintech event returns for its sixth year as a hybrid event, allowing participants to join the event in person or from the comforts of their own homes. As usual, the Hong Kong Fintech Week is jam-packed with activities, announcements, and insightful conversations. In case you missed it, here are some key highlights from the first day of the main event. The launch of AML Regtech Lab  As the next phase to encourage Regtech adoption, the HKMA announced the launch of AMLab series which will be held on 5 November in collaboration with Cyberport. Five banks will…

Fintech has emerged as the dominant vertical in the country’s vibrant startup ecosystem, according to the 2021 Startup Survey conducted by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK). This year’s results revealed that the overall number of startups in the city reached a record high of 3,755, up 12 percent from the figure in 2020. Out of this 472 were fintech startups. InvestHK said in a statement that this showcased a positive impact on the job market across different business sectors with the number of staff hired by startups rebounding from that of last year by 29 percent. Additionally, the survey recorded startups…

Currenxie, a Hong Kong-headquartered cross-border payments company, announced that it has launched a Visa card to provide businesses with a more convenient and secure way to manage global payments. The Currenxie Visa Business Card is available now to the company’s clients in Hong Kong and will be also rolled out across the UK and Europe in early 2022. The launch is the company’s first release in a multi-year partnership with Visa to bring corporate cards to modern, borderless companies, and follows Currenxie’s recent US$ 10 million Series A funding round. Currenxie’s Global Account clients can apply for and receive virtual…

Global payments platform 2C2P announced a partnership with UnionPay International to offer the UnionPay 3-D Secure (3DS) payment authentication solution to its network of merchants in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. 2C2P will launch UnionPay 3DS in October first in Thailand and subsequently in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Singapore. UnionPay’s payment authentication solution is compliant with EMV 3-D Secure, the latest security protocol designed to minimize payment fraud and make online debit and credit card transactions frictionless. Piyachart Ratanaprasartporn, Chief Executive Officer of 2C2P (Thailand) said, “We are committed to developing a full range of online…

The financial services industry has felt the impact of the increasing demand for digital offerings for some time now. However, with a global pandemic came the closure of physical branches and reduced in-person hours at traditional banks, dramatically accelerating the need to get online and serve their customers – immediately and seamlessly. As financial services providers feel the pressure to keep up with the frenetic pace of digitisation and scale up their online offerings, it is imperative that they not lose sight of risk management and risk control. More important still, they must stay compliant with rigorous regulatory and legal…

Hong Kong-based digital asset custody service provider Hex Trust announced that James Fok has joined its advisory board. James brings with him over 20 years of experience in capital markets and the financial services industry across several key management positions, and as an advisor to corporations and governments. His experience and extensive network will be key to further strengthening Hex Trust and scaling its financial institution client base globally. James played a major role on a number of landmark initiatives during his time at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, including the acquisition of the London Metal Exchange, the Stock…

A recent report commissioned by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) had highlighted a series of recommendations to promote the development of regtech talent in Hong Kong. As laid out in the HKMA’s white paper entitled “Transforming Risk Management and Compliance: Harnessing the Power of Regtech”, the shortage of regtech talent was identified as a significant barrier to adoption in Hong Kong’s banking sector. To overcome this barrier, the HKMA’s two-year roadmap has proposed to establish a “Regtech Skills Framework” and to assess the current skills gaps in the market. The objective is to develop a structured pathway to guide…

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced details of Hong Kong Fintech Week 2021, themed “Scaling Fintech Future Together”, which will be held in hybrid form, comprising both physical and virtual formats, from November 1 to 5. The sixth edition of Fintech Week was organised by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and InvestHK, and co-organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Insurance Authority (IA). The event will provide a platform for information technology companies, fintech firms, and financial institutions, investors, regulators and more, from all over the world to explore…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has released a technical whitepaper on a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), proposing an architecture that would follow the key principles of safety, efficiency, and openness. The paper, titled e-HKD: A technical perspective, shares findings from a technology experimentation study, exploring potential architectures and design options for issuing and distributing a retail CBDC, and proposing a possible design for what is believed to be the ideal retail CBDC system. The HKMA’s proposed retail CBDC infrastructure The CBDC architecture would consist of two layers: a wholesale system for the central bank to issue and…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for their cooperation on fintech innovation and supervisory exchanges in the region. The two regulators have agreed to link up the PBOC’s Fintech Innovation Regulatory Facility with the HKMA’s Fintech Supervisory Sandbox in the form of a network. The network link-up aims to provide a one-stop platform to allow eligible financial institutions (FIs) and technology firms to conduct pilot trials of cross-border fintech initiatives, concurrently in Hong Kong and Mainland Greater Bay Area cities. Additionally, the arrangement will also enable FIs…

OSL, a SFC-licensed digital asset platform and member of BC Technology Group, announced that it has expanded access to its crypto trading platform to professional and institutional customers in Latin America, with zero trading fees until the end of the year. OSL Exchange provides clients with access to a global liquidity pool that is powered by a matching engine as well as offer connectivity via a rich API suite and professional user interface, allowing clients to tap into deep pools of liquidity. OSL said in a statement that it has established a strong track record in the region. Since the…

Hong Kong’s business-friendly environment, financial and operational support, strategic position in Asia-Pacific (APAC) and advanced technical infrastructure provide ideal conditions for fintech startups looking to scale, grow and crack the Asian market. Home to more than 460 fintech companies, including several unicorn startups, Hong Kong has emerged as one of the world’s most dynamic fintech markets, leveraging its historical position as an international financial center and embracing progressive regulatory regimes to foster innovation and appeal to global entrepreneurs. According to Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK)’s 2020 Startup Survey, about a quarter (26%) of Hong Kong’s 3,000+ startups were founded by people…

Banks and financial institutions are faced with critical challenges in their current governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) approaches, which often times involve inefficient and cumbersome processes requiring an excessive amount of manual work with disconnected and varied results. This challenge is further exacerbated with the constant addition of new guidelines to adhere to and new initiatives being pushed forth in order to mitigate risk, making it ever-so daunting for risk and compliance teams to keep up. In this fast-evolving risk and regulatory landscape, banks are increasingly turning to so-called electronic-GRC (eGRC) platforms to address the inefficiencies and limitations related to…