Asia embracing digital banking faster than elsewhere, and that includes Hong Kong, says HSBC
Before HKMA’s fintech initiatives were announced, there was concern that Hong Kong might be falling behind
When it comes to digital banking, the pace of change in Asia is faster than elsewhere in the world, and concerns that Hong Kong would be left behind are starting to fade, according to the digital banking chief at HSBC.
“Before the HKMA’s seven initiatives for fintech came out, there was definitely a concern that Hong Kong might have got left behind compared to what is happening in other markets like China and Singapore,” said Josh Bottomley, global head of digital for HSBC.
In late September Norman Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hong Kong’s banking regulator and de facto central bank, announced a series of initiatives which he said would open up “a new era of smart banking” in Hong Kong.
These included a repackaging of the faster payments system to be launched in 2018, opening up the HKMA’s fintech supervisory sandbox to technology firms, and the creation of a new policy around opening up banks’ application programming interfaces to technology players.
“What has happened with the HKMA is a big step forward to allow Hong Kong in particular to create an environment where we can offer new services,” said Bottomley, citing HSBC’s PayMe payments service as an example, which he noted was used at the Clockenflap festival held in the city this weekend.