HSBC, 11 other banks sharpen focus on fintech innovation

Eight financial technology start-ups, including companies from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Germany, are looking to introduce innovation that could help revitalise the Asia-Pacific banking market through a programme backed by a dozen major institutions.

A fraud prevention system using algorithms based on Chinese characters, a customer identity system based on the online ledger platform known as blockchain, a predictive investment solution, and electronic wallet are among technologies under review at this year’s staging of Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong.

“The lab created a platform for us to work with start-ups that have innovative technologies and people with great ideas,” Cheng said. “We have identified a number of opportunities and tested out some of these initiatives, with the aim to make banking simpler, better and faster for our customers.”

Launched in 2014, the lab is a fintech accelerator founded by global consulting firm Accenture. From Monday, Accenture and partner financial institutions will mentor start-ups over 12 weeks at Cyberport.

Partners include HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Suisse, Generali, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Maybank, Morgan Stanley, Sun Life Financial and UBS.