Hong Kong's FinTech Growth Index for 2019-20 grew by 52.9% compared with its base period from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, which represents an optimistic outlook by partnered companies. It can be attributed to policies and measures which act as accelerators to foster a positive impact on the industry's development.
The anticipated growth of business performance, indicated by FinTech customer adoption rate grew by 113% as compared with the 2018-19 financial year, representing an optimistic outlook of the business development by the companies.
The business environment, measured by both internal and external factors on FinTech business operations and development, grew by a modest 5% in the same period. Although there is a positive effect of the internal factors by the companies in terms of funding and other capital allocations, it has been cancelled off by the relatively lower average rating on external factors such as investment environment, government policy and regulations.
Investment on R&D or product development, measured by the anticipated percentage change between 2019-20 financial year and the base period, grew moderately by 48.4%, mainly on areas including AI, big data and machines/deep learning (55.3%), followed by Blockchain (42.3%) and Customer experience (39.5%).
Demand on Talents, measured by the anticipated percentage change between 2019-20 financial year and the base period, grew moderately by 45.3%. On the required skills for new employees, Programming skills (68.4%) are the most preferable skills for new hires, followed by Marketing expertise (47.4%) and Knowledge of machine/deep learning and AI (42.1%)
HK FinTech Buzz Index
HK FinTech Buzz Index 2021Q4
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.
Having analysed 1,141 news articles posted between October and December 2021, the Hong Kong FBI for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021 is computed to be 99.7, showing a rise of 4.6 index points (or 4.8%) from 95.1 in the third quarter in 2021 (2021Q3).
An increase was recorded in all six sectorial indices. Among the six of them, the sectorial index of Blockchain & Cryptocurrency experienced the largest rise, which could be attributed to the promotion of the eTradeConnect platform and the growing popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). The eTradeConnect platform together with the Cross-Boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme also contributed to the substantial increase in the sectorial index of WealthTech & CreditTech. The rise seen in the sectorial indices of InsurTech and Payment & Digital Banking was respectively due to the introduction of virtual insurers and widening application of digital payment platforms. The RegTech & Cybersecurity sectorial index has slightly increased, which was because of the drop in the number of online scams relative to the previous quarter. The Supporters & Others sectorial index has also slightly risen, as positive expectations concerning the development of the Greater Bay Area were identified in the news articles.
