Hitch a ride on the career rocket

FinTech, initially driven by the coming together of tech-savvy entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, has emerged from its embryonic phase to a stage where its positive disruptive influences are seen as a major game changer for the financial services industry.

Ralph Chan, DBS Bank (HK) vice-president, strategic planning and transformation, technology and operations, says his organisation has made a point of collaborating and engaging with start-up enterprises. “The banking mindset and momentum is changing,’’ he says. “In the past we used to work with big firms including IBM, but these days, far more we are collaborating with start-ups.’’

When it comes to jobs, Chan paraphrases Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s speech to Harvard Business school students, saying that with Hong Kong’s FinTech sector expanding rapidly, if you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat, just get on. He adds, however, that one or two years working in the corporate banking industry can be helpful in learning about the overtrading systems and mechanisms.

Torsten Duwenhorst, principal at KPMG Hong Kong, whose area of expertise is cybercrime investigation and forensic data analytics, make the point that “big four’’ firms are facing the same challenges as banking and financial organisations. “We are looking for ways to innovate ourselves through the use of FinTech so we can better help our clients,’’ says Duwenhorst, who gives as an example FinTech solutions being used to conduct anti-money laundering investigations.

Jim Kennedy, application delivery CTO at UBS, explains how the company is moving away from tried and tested technologies to implement portfolio changes in a safe and reliable way, by looking for ways to implement new technologies that also meet objectives in an equally safe and reliable manner. “If we only focus internally on developing traditional  technologies we could miss out on opportunities outside the bank that become the technologies of the future,’’ says Kennedy. 

Equally important, he adds, by partnering with FinTech enterprises UBS can plug in to the vision, freedom of thought, enthusiasm and trend insights entrepreneurial start-up firms can provide. With clear gaps identified between business growth and skills abilities, Kennedy says joining Hong Kong and the mainland’s fast-growing FinTech sector should be considered a serious career proposition. “Whether people join a progressive financial organisation that embraces technology, or take the risk of joining or setting up a start-up, the way things are moving there are some great opportunities,’’ he adds.