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.
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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.
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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.
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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%).
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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 Growth Index
HK FinTech Growth Index 2021
The Hong Kong FGI represents responses to an annual survey by 45 companies, 18 more than 2019-20. The FGI for the financial year 2020-21 is 116.7, which has decreased by 4.2 index points (or 3.5%) since 2019-20. This may be attributed to the continued uncertainties arising from COVID-19 and the evolving political environment. The FGI expected for the financial year 2021-22 is 125.9, a rise of 9.2 index points (or 7.9%) from the current year, and a three-year high from 120.9 in 2019-20.
Among the four sub-indices, the Business Environment sub-index, measured by both internal and external factors on FinTech business operations and development, has seen the largest decline (14.6%) from the previous year. According to the survey, the respondents perceived that “Safe and stable investment environment” and “External funding opportunities” posed increased challenges to FinTech businesses during this period.
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Similarly, the Investment on R&D or Product Development sub-index has decreased by 9.9 index points (or 7.8%) compared to the previous year, possibly due to continued uncertainties arising from COVID-19. It is expected that the sub-index will increase by 5.4 index points (or 4.6%) in the following year, fluctuating between 115 and 125 index points.
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The Demand for Talents sub-index has largely remained unchanged since the previous year, and is anticipated to stay almost constant and high in the coming year. The survey results revealed that FinTech companies are mostly looking for mid-level job candidates (73.3%), followed by intermediate level candidates (71.1%).
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On the other hand, the Business Performance sub-index, measured by FinTech customer adoption rate and revenue, has risen by 6.1% since the previous year. It also has the highest expected growth rate (16.1%) out of the four sub-indices. This indicates that current FinTech businesses are optimistic with regards to their performance, which might be due to the belief that the Hong Kong economy will soon recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that COVID-19 has motivated the development of technology solutions could also have led to such an uptrend. According to the survey, WealthTech, E-payment and digital banking, as well as Blockchain and Cryptocurrency sectors have the largest contribution to the increase of this sub-index.
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