Hong Kong’s digital banks play crucial role in developing the fintech ecosystem

Public acceptance of digital banks is increasing in the city.

Hong Kong’s digital banks play a crucial role in developing the city’s fintech ecosystem, a central bank representative said.

Alvin Li, head (Supervisory Technology) of the Banking Supervision Department of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), noted digital banks’ role in defining tech adoption in the digital age.

“Digital banks can demonstrate their ethos of responsible innovation and technological agility to enhance and redefine banking experience in the digital age,” Li said in a panel during the Hong Kong Fintech Week 2024 that took place on October 28-29.

Duncan Chiu, legislative council member of the Technology & Innovation Constituency, identified digital banks as crucial to developing Hong Kong's fintech ecosystem, particularly in exploring and implementing innovative use cases for technologies.

Public acceptance for digital banks is increasing in Hong Kong. A survey by the Digital Banking Education Taskforce found that nearly 95% of individuals, and 98% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the city believe that digital banks meet at least 50% of their daily banking needs.

Nearly half of individual respondents even indicated that digital banks meet at least 90% of their daily banking needs, said Gigi Wong, chairperson of the Taskforce, who spoke in the same panel.

“The Taskforce believes that, in collaboration with the government and various sectors, digital banks will actively pursue continuous innovation in various areas of fintech, further enhance products and services to benefit more users, and promote the long-term development of Web3.0 in Hong Kong,” Wong said.