FINT E C H
Fintech is fast becoming a significant segment of Hong Kong’s world-leading financial industry
WOR D S C R A IG B RIGHT
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t’s the last day of RISE, one of Asia’s biggest technology conferences, and the main hall of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) is still heaving with people. For the past four days, start-up entrepreneurs have stood beside their booths eagerly explaining their ideas to passers-by in the hopes of alluring customers and investors. Meanwhile, at the main stage hundreds
of people have sat and listened intently as CEOs of multinational corporations, YouTube stars and even robots talked about almost every nuanced area of technology. However, talking androids and celebrity star power
aside, this year’s RISE conference featured one field in particular, “fintech”, which has caught the attention of everyone from big banks like HSBC and BNY Mellon to smaller start-ups like Circle and Bitfair. Financial technology, or fintech as
it is commonly known, is a growing segment of the financial industry comprising a wide spectrum of innovative, “disruptive” technologies ranging from digital payment platforms and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, to big data and artificial intelligence. As one of the world’s most
figure stood at US$546 million – up from US$216 million in 2016 and US$108 million in 2015 – placing it well ahead of both Singapore and Australia. “Hong Kong is at the heart of an exciting fintech boom,
where Asian investment meets fintech companies from China, Europe and the US,” says Raymond Qu, CEO of Geoswiſt, a financial services company headquartered in Hong Kong that provides cross-border payment solutions for the e-commerce, travel and education sectors. “With its proximity to China and its position as the gateway to the mainland, Hong Kong has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting, well-connected fintech hubs.”
“Hong Kong has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting, well-connected fintech hubs”
influential financial centres, Hong Kong is experiencing a significant rise in its fintech sector. As well as acting as a marketplace for companies from across the globe, investment in Hong Kong-based fintech firms has more than doubled each year since 2015, according to management consultants Accenture. Last year, this
THE RISE OF TECHNOLOGY The rapid growth of investment in Hong Kong fintech companies over the past few years mirrors the industry’s significant expansion and development in general. “Fintech started gaining traction a decade ago, and its evolution has recently taken on a new dimension,” says Qu. Hong Kong’s status as a major global
financial hub provides not only a market for new fintech innovations, but also an environment that’s conducive to
investment. “Hong Kong’s regulators have been reviewing how they can help boost the development of fintech,” Qu adds. “To avoid missing out on the technology boom, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing [HKEX] and the Securities and Futures Commission [SFC] have welcomed large technology companies with multiple classes of shares.”
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