How e-wallet entrepreneur in Hong Kong bounced back after losing everything when deal failed

In the last of a three-part series on InnoStars Awards, organised by Our Hong Kong Foundation to recognise leaders and promote innovation, City Weekend talks to Alex Kong, founder and CEO of TNG Wallet

Reading Time:5 minutes

Alex Kong started in business early, selling goldfish at age 13. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 2:00pm, 12 May 2018Updated: 2:00pm, 12 May 2018

From selling aquarium fish as a youngster and second-hand cars in university to developing online travel packages, entrepreneur Alex Kong, 48, has seen it all – including getting burned in a multimillion-dollar business deal. But he got up, dusted himself off and persisted to later set up The Next Generation (TNG) e-wallet, which was first developed in Hong Kong and serves the 1.2 billion “unbanked” people across much of Asia through its global partners.

Originally from Sarawak, Malaysia, Kong has been plugging away in business for 35 years, e-commerce for more than two decades and in the city’s technology industry for about 10 years.

Wong, a bookworm who has read thousands of titles, also plays hard – badminton, cycling, body pumping and aerobics exercise at the gym three or four times a week.

TNG Wallet has at least 400,000 active registered users. Photo: SCMP

Where does the future lie for your company?

In 2016, TNG was granted a stored value facilities licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which allowed it to get into the international remittance market in Asia by providing global transfer services in 13 countries including mainland China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

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