Hong Kong continues to pursue its fintech ambitions, accelerating efforts related to regtech and central bank digital currency (CBDC). Meanwhile, the city’s eight virtual banks are seeing strong consumer uptake as they continue expanding their product offerings. Fintech News Hong Kong’s newly released Hong Kong Fintech Report 2022 looks at key developments in the space that occurred in 2021 and share emerging trends to watch out for. In particular, the report delves into three key themes that emerged this year – CBDC, regtech and virtual banking –, gives an overview of the fintech startup landscape and outlines some of the…

Over 300 fintech companies from 49 global economies have received support from Global Fast Track 2021, a business-driven programme at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2021. 89 top fintech firms were subsequently selected to further benefit from the programme. Designed to help fintech companies from all over the world scale in Hong Kong and Asia, the programme consists of business matchings of fintech firms with corporates and investors, a pitching competition, regulators’ and mentors’ sessions, and a variety of soft landing programmes offered by the programme’s partners. Global Fast Track is led by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), and delivered by FINNOVASIA.…

Home to more than 470 fintech companies, Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic fintech hubs in the world. Despite the ongoing economic challenges of the global pandemic, the past year has seen Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem returning optimistic results as the government and regulators continued to roll out new measures and initiatives to boost the growth of the sector. Hong Kong fintech funding Reflective of global trends, fintech funding activity in Hong Kong surged in 2021. The Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) estimates that US$68.8 billion was raised in the first seven months of the year alone. In comparison,…

Asia-Pacific is propelling the retail industry, generating about three-quarters of global growth. By 2025, Asia Pacific’s e-commerce sales are expected to nearly double and reach US$ 2 trillion. This unprecedented and accelerated growth is great news for merchants across Asia, the reality however is, that the bigger a merchant grows, the more complex the payment infrastructure becomes. The larger and more successful a merchant becomes, the more painful they find it to optimise and run their payment platform the way they want. As soon as a business expands to the point that a single payment provider cannot serve its needs,…

South Korean payments startup CHAI raised US$45 million during a Series B+ funding round that was co-led by SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) and Nyca Partners. SBVA’s participation in this funding round marks their second Series B investment into CHAI. The round also received additional participation from investors such as KT Investment, Conductive Ventures, Nordstar Capital, Samsung NEXT and B Capital. CHAI said that it will use this funding to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and develop a fully automated end-to-end payment infrastructure for digital merchants throughout Asia. Founded in 2019, CHAI aims to bridge the payments gap in Asian…

The Asian Financial Forum (AFF) is an annual signature event held in Hong Kong every January to promote collaboration in the Asia’s financial industry and will be returning on 10-11 Jan 2022. Marking its 15th edition, this year’s Asian Financial Forum will provide the participants with a dual in-person and virtual experience. Selected sessions and exhibitions will be held physically at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 10 Jan 2022, while all sessions and exhibitions will be available on the AFFs virtual platform over the course of the two-day event. Under the theme of “Navigating the Next Normal…

Hong Kong-based venture accelerator firm Brinc announced the closing of its US$30 million Series B fundraise led by Hong Kong unicorn Animoca Brands, a prolific investor in NFT-centric and Web 3.0 companies. Additionally, Brinc also received a further US$100 million for startup investments. The new capital will fuel Brinc’s global platform expansion across new locations and verticals – allowing more investors and corporate partners to leverage funds, accelerators and bespoke-deal sourcing to access high-quality investment opportunities and emerging technologies in food, health, energy, climate and deep tech. In addition, the capital will enable Brinc’s expansion into Web 3.0 including the…

OPSWAT is a global leader in IT, OT and ICS critical infrastructure cybersecurity solutions and Deep Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR), protecting the world’s mission-critical organizations from malware and zero-day attacks. More than 1,500 organizations worldwide trust OPSWAT to secure their files and devices; ensure compliance with industry and government-driven policies. We recently had the opportunity to talk to Victoria Huang, Marketing Campaign Manager for OPSWAT and learn more about her career journey and why OPSWAT is a great place to build your career. What led you to OPSWAT? I joined OPSWAT in July 2020 as a marketing campaign manager,…

Hong Kong digital tech park Cyberport announced that fifteen of its members have received awards as part of the biennial Deloitte Hong Kong Technology Fast and Rising Star Programme. Local unicorn company and longtime Cyberport community member Animoca Brands was selected as one of the two Technology Fast Leader award recipients this edition. Additionally, Cyberport community startups accounted for seven of the top ten Tech Fast award winners this edition, covering fintech and smart living companies. The seven startups were AsiaTop Loyalty, Starling Lab, HelloToby Technology (HK), HK Decoman Technology, Set Sail Venture, Pakpobox Hong Kong, and GoGoChart Technology. Hong…

Bank of China Group Insurance (BOCG Insurance) announced that it has joined forces with international actuarial and consulting firm Milliman as well as Hong Kong’s insurtech firm CoverGo. The partnership was formed to streamline BOCG Insurance’s motor insurance ecosystem and customer experience. BOCG Insurance has engaged Milliman to implement new rates for motor products, through advanced actuarial and machine learning techniques. Meanwhile, CoverGo will provide its insurance platform to build products faster with no-code, increase distribution through new digital portals, and improve policy and claims admin through automation. BOCG Insurance said that its agents and customers can now purchase motor…

The Insurance Authority (IA), Hong Kong’s insurance regulator, is exploring the development of an open application programming interface (API) framework and has established a working group focused on the initiative, Tony Chan, the associate director of policy and development at the IA, said in a keynote speech at a recent event. The plans were shared during the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong (ASHK)’s 19th Appointed Actuaries Symposium on November 23, 2021, during which Chan stressed the need to foster greater collaboration among insurers, third-party service providers and regulators. Some insurers are already utilizing API technology to facilitate connectivity between their…

Global Fintech-as-a-Service platform Rapyd announced that it has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Neat, a cross-border trade enabling platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is subject to regulatory approval. Neat provides full company incorporation, business accounts, global payment collection and disbursements, as well as credit card-based capital expansion services. According to Rapyd, by integrating Neat into its global payments network, SMBs will be able to incorporate new companies in minutes, streamline receivables and payables in a single venue, starting with Hong Kong and soon in other markets. Additionally,…

With data becoming a core business asset for financial companies, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) continues to be a focal point in maximising the competitive advantage of this ‘new oil’. This is according to a new study by LSEG Labs, The Defining Moment for Data Scientists, on the applications of AI/ML in financial services. The study found that the adoption of AI/ML within organisations has remained steady since 2018. Over the last three years, between 40-50% of respondents reported deploying AI/ML in multiple areas. The survey is based on responses from 482 data scientists, quants, model governance professionals and…

AngelHub, an SFC-regulated tech investment platform and sister-company of WHub, announced that it has secures US$ 3 million from Animoca Brands and its existing investor Kharis Capital. The new funding will accelerate AngelHub’s deployment in tech companies, grow WHub’s corporate partnership ecosystem and fuel its international expansion. Hong Kong-based blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands joined forces with AngelHub in order to drive the democratisation of investment in blockchain companies. Both companies entered into a strategic partnership to bring more blockchain investment opportunities through AngelHub. The focus will be on companies in the metaverse, DeFI, NFT and digital infrastructure. As of now,…

Virtual bank WeLab announced the acquisition of PT Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ), a commercial bank in Indonesia, with plans to launch its second digital bank in the second half of 2022 following its successful launch in Hong Kong. Headquartered in Hong Kong, WeLab has drawn interest from existing and new investors who have already contributed US$240 million which will be used to acquire the controlling stakes from its existing shareholders and tech investments. The WeLab-led consortium, Welab Sky, has entered into a share purchase and subscription agreement with all the shareholders of BJJ. According to the agreement, WeLab Sky will…

By 2025, Hong Kong’s virtual banks are expected to amass 44,182 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers, a client base that’s set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 163.6% between 2020 and 2025, estimates Quinlan and Associates, a strategy consulting firm specializing in the financial services industry. These figures were shared in a new report outlining the current positioning of industry players and the future outlook for the space. According to the report, SME customer uptake will rise as more virtual banks open their doors to business customers. Currently, only Ping An OneConnect Bank (PAOB) and…

Hong Kong’s virtual bank Mox announced that now has 200,000 customers, doubling its customer base since May. As one of the eight entities that were granted a virtual banking license by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mox had officially launched to the general public in Hong Kong in September 2020. Mox reports high levels of customer engagement where more than 80% of its customers are currently using at least two or more of its products and services. As the digital bank’s user base grew, so did its card transactions with customers spending more than HKD 3 billion using their Mox Cards.…

The sudden surge in e-commerce activities has brought with it a rapid rise of card-not-present (CNP) fraud, costing e-commerce merchants an estimated US$35.54 billion globally in 2020, a new report by Forrester says. According to the “How to balance risk in an ever-changing retail landscape” report, this massive jump in CNP shows that merchants are overwhelmed with the massive increase in new customers and activities, and calls for greater use of fraud management efficiency metrics. CNP is a category of fraud where the cardholder does not or cannot physically present the card for a merchant’s visual examination at the time…

Travel and leisure booking platform Klook and ZA Tech, the technology venture founded by ZA International and backed by Softbank’s Vision Fund 1, announced a joint venture (JV) that will accelerate the availability and accessibility of travel-related insurance for consumers across the globe. The agreement will synergise Klook’s global presence and hyper-localised go-to-market strategy, alongside ZA Tech’s experience in insurance innovation and technological know-how – ensuring global consumers will have seamless access to a broad selection of travel-related insurance policies at competitive prices. With this JV, insurers will be able to partner with Klook to feature their insurance products on…

Hong Kong Fintech Week (HKFW) 2021 ended on November 5, closing a global conference exploring an array of business opportunities for the fintech industry in Hong Kong and across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The event which featured renowned speakers from around the world, revealed several key policy announcements and put a spotlight on Hong Kong as the destination for fintech startups and scale-ups to expand business in Asia. The five-day event themed “Scaling Fintech Future Together” had attracted over 20,000 attendees. The conference was host to over 300 speakers, more than 400 exhibitors, and 39 international delegations…