HK FinTech Buzz Index 2020Q1

The HKU FinTech Index Series Project today (August 17) released the Hong Kong FinTech Buzz Index (FBI) for the second quarter (Q2) of 2020.

According to the 1,190 news articles analysed in the past three months, FBI for the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 is 101.6, a slight decline of 0.1 index point (or 0.10%) from 101.7 (note 1) in the first quarter of 2020. The index decreased by 3.1 points (or 2.96%) from the peak value of 104.7 in Q2, 2019. Despite the strong growth of RegTech and InsurTech this year, the Hong Kong FBI was flat under the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Hong Kong FinTech Buzz Index (FBI) is a quarterly index which represents a quantified sentiment of the local FinTech-related news articles in local Chinese news media.

Performance differed across the six subsectors, with a rise recorded in the sub-indices of Insurance Technology (InsurTech), Wealth Technology and Credit Technology (WealthTech & CreditTech) and Regulatory Technology (RegTech) & Cybersecurity. The rise in the InsurTech sub-index can be attributed to positive news reports from Hong Kong Insurance Authority's granting a 4th virtual insurance license to ZhongAn Insurance. The announcement of Wealth Management Connect by HKMA also brought good news to the WealthTech & CreditTech sector. Positive news reports leading to the rise in RegTech sub-index are mainly on the trial run of PAObank under the FinTech Supervisory Sandbox by HKMA, and the HSBC Life's video conference insurance service under InsurTech Sandbox by HKIA.

Note 1: The index in 2020Q1 has been revised upward from 100.3 to 101.7. The earlier index was computed based on a set of provisional weightings and the current revision was endorsed by the Advisory Board.