Hong Kong’s virtual bank ZA has officially launched its investment fund service where customers can build their fund portfolios based on personal financial goals. Users can immediately subscribe to the funds after opening an investment account via the ZA Bank app which reportedly just takes 5 minutes. ZA said that all subscription fees will be waived […]
Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022 programme. Global Fast Track, organised by InvestHK and co-organised by Finnovasia, is a one-stop programme with a business matching portal, pitching competition, and mentoring sessions to […]
ShopBack, a Temasek-backed shopping and rewards platform, announced that it will be expanding its footprint to Hong Kong with a soft launch on 8 August. According to ShopBack, it has already onboarded over 250 merchants in Hong Kong ranging from local to global players, including Watsons, Disney+, Apple, KFC, Booking.com, Farfetch, Taobao, Sasa, ParkNShop, iHerb, and […]
In Asia, bigtechs and new digital banking challengers are rapidly gaining ground, forcing incumbent banks to rethink their business strategy and become a part of the super-app ecosystem, a new report by Finextra, in association with Infosys Finacle and OneSpan, says. The paper, titled The Future of Digital Banking in Asia 2022, explores Asia’s booming […]
Various categories of fintech firms – Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), digital lending, payments and collections – are increasingly leveraging predictive models built using artificial intelligence and machine learning to support core business functions such as risk decisioning. According to a report by Grand View Research, Inc., the global AI in fintech market size is […]
OSL Digital Securities Limited (OSL) announced it that it became the first Type 1 SFC-licensed digital asset broker to distribute security tokens to professional investors in Hong Kong in a private security token offering (STO). Participants in the offering include Animoca Brands, Head & Shoulders Financial Group, China Fortune Financial Group, Volmart and Monmonkey Group […]
Cross border payments firm Airwallex announced the launch of its Airwallex Online Payments App on e-commerce platform Shopify. The Airwallex Online Payments App is a payment gateway plugin that merchants can integrate on their online store to accept payments from their global customers. This new app is offered through Airwallex’s payment acceptance solution that covers […]
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced that it has appointed Daniel Sonder as its Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Data Business, Markets. In his strategy role, Sonder will lead the Group Strategy function, working closely with the HKEX Management Committee and executives across the business, to deliver on the group’s strategy. In […]
It is evident that digital acceleration is creating a new payments paradigm as corporate non-cash payments are forecasted to reach US$200 billion transactions by 2025. Shifting global payments priorities are placing new pressures on payments operations. Payments executives are facing increasing expectations to transition their departments from cost centers to creators of enterprise value. What […]
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Bloomberg and the Hong Kong United Youth Association (HKUY) have partnered to launch the Greater Bay Fintech Talent Initiative aimed at bridging a potential technology skills gap in the region. With the Greater Bay Area (GBA) aiming to bring the economic area of Southern China closer together, this initiative […]
Hong Kong digital tech park Cyberport announced that the Fintech Anti-epidemic Scheme for Talent Development programme (FAST) is now open for further applications from eligible fintech companies with a physical presence in Hong Kong. The programme aims to benefit more enterprises in need and generate more opportunities for talents locally and internationally looking to join […]
Investment holding company Huobi Technology has applied for trading licenses from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) through its subsidiary Huobi Services. Huobi has applied for the Type 1 (securities trading) and Type 7 (provision of automated trading services) licenses from HKSFC. As early as 2019, HKSFC introduced virtual asset regulatory sandbox, which […]
Banking as a Service (BaaS) is seen as one of the biggest opportunities in financial services and is experiencing rapid growth in APAC. Indeed, almost 9 out of 10 APAC executives surveyed by Finastra said they had already implemented BaaS solutions or were planning to. But this adoption does not just include banks, as the […]
Animoca Brands, the company driving digital property rights via NFTs and gaming to build the open metaverse, announced that it has raised US$75.32 million. According to a report by CoinDesk, the fundraise values Animoca Brands at US$5.9 billion. The current raise is the second tranche of the funding previously announced in January 2022, which was […]
Hong Kong’s virtual bank WeLab announced that it has launched its digital wealth advisory solution, GoWealth Digital Wealth Advisory (GoWealth). Customers can now kick start their personalised investment plan from HKD100. In April this year, WeLab was granted Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) licenses from the Hong Kong Securities […]
Indonesian conglomerate PT Astra International through its subsidiary PT Sedaya Multi Investama (SMI), together with Welab Sky, a consortium led by Hong Kong digital bank WeLab, plans to jointly acquire Indonesia’s PT Bank Jasa Jakarta (BJJ). As of last year, WeLab Sky already held a 24% stake in BJJ. Upon the completion of this transaction […]
Digital wealth platform Endowus has appointed Steffanie Yuen as its Head of Hong Kong as the firm expands to its first overseas market. Steffanie will establish and lead Endowus’ presence in Hong Kong as the firm looks to launch its wealth management and advisory services in the city by Q4 2022. With over 12 years […]
OneConnect Financial Technology, a technology-as-a-service provider for financial institutions, announced that it has successfully listed, by way of introduction, its ordinary shares on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). The shares are traded on the main board of SEHK under the stock code “6638” in board lots of 500 shares, […]
Despite realizing the opportunities brought about data and analytics, banks and financial institutions in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are still struggling to draw critical insights from their data in an effective and timely manner. This is one of the findings drawn from a new study by tech provider InterSystems and data analyst firm Vitreous World. The survey, […]
Cross border payments firm Airwallex is now a fully registered Financial Service Provider with the Financial Service Providers Register in New Zealand and has launched its global payment services in the country. Businesses in New Zealand now have access to key Airwallex offerings including international collections, multi-currency wallets in over 11 currencies, and local payouts […]