Fintech, World's Leading Financial Industry

Fintech is fast becoming a significant segment of Hong Kong’s world leading financial industry

- Craig Bright

It’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 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 figure stood at USD546 million – up from USD216 million in 2016 and USD108 million in 2015 – placing it well ahead of both Singapore and Australia.