HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Nov. 7,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- An integrated, seamlessly connected
financial platform and FinTech talent are vital to the development
of the Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), says Jessica Tan, co-CEO of Ping An Group. The
GBA is a huge and exciting area. Ping
An, together with its associate company OneConnect is always
willing to use technology as an enabler for the GBA's digital
economy, she said. OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd. (short
for "OneConnect ", NYSE: OCFT) is a leading technology-as-a-service
platform provider.
Ms. Tan underscored the importance of cultivating Hong Kong's FinTech capabilities in a keynote
delivered at Hong Kong FinTech Week. Held from November 1-5, this year's event gathered
world-renowned speakers, regulators, and industry players to "scale
the FinTech future together."
"Building a seamless digital economy is the greatest opportunity
in the region. But practically, we must address three key issues in
order to capture and maximize that opportunity. This is not
something that an individual entity or organization can solve — it
requires a collective effort across the entire GBA. This is where
Hong Kong, the region's
international finance hub, can take the lead and harness technology
to make FinTech platforms more interoperable," said Ms. Tan.
Building a shared digital economy across the GBA
With Hong Kong's financial
expertise, Guangzhou's
manufacturing prowess and Shenzhen's technological capabilities, the GBA
is the perfect region to develop a world-leading digital economy.
However, the region will need to address key challenges surrounding
governance and regulation, Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs)
support, and local talent if it wants to transform these
opportunities into a reality, said Ms. Tan.
The GBA involves three different jurisdictions, each with its
own government authorities, standards, and procedures. All these
need to be considered when developing a connected financial
platform, said Ms. Tan. At the same time, regulators and
organizations need to be clear on how financial services can
empower SMEs with the access and capabilities to operate seamlessly
across regions, particularly given half of all trade in the GBA is
conducted by small businesses. Lastly, Hong Kong needs to find and nurture the right
talents to fuel innovation and development.
Technology as an enabler for the GBA's digital
economy
According to Ms. Tan, technology is essential to resolving these
issues and making platforms truly interoperable across the GBA.
Notably, Hong Kong should seek to
consolidate its various government data and services, similar to
the one-stop sandbox platform proposed by regulatory authorities to
enable GBA start-ups to develop cross-border fintech tools. At the
same time, data should be available across regions to ensure that
various jurisdictions and government entities adhere to the same
standards — all while delivering a seamless experience to clients
and companies.
OneConnect has already established such a platform to empower
all enterprises, including SMEs, to participate in, and prosper
from, the digital economy. Earlier this year, the company
celebrated the first anniversary of Ping An OneConnect Bank
("PAOB"), the first virtual bank in Hong
Kong to use alternative data models for risk assessment.
PAOB uses trade data and other information to assess and predict
risk in order to provide non-collateralized loans for SMEs. To
date, PAOB has served HK local SMEs with total assets reaching
HK$1 billion.
OneConnect has also established the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
Port Logistics and Trade Facilitation Blockchain Platform to
facilitate cross-border trade between merchants, and the Guangdong
SME financing platform to improve lending efficiency for SMEs.
In addition to building the right platforms, OneConnect is
nurturing the talents of tomorrow and bridging skillset gaps across
the region. Its new internship program connects aspiring
professionals with established financial services and technology
experts to encourage knowledge transfer.
Furthermore, its parent company, Ping An Group has launched an
incubator accelerator program for the GBA. The program plugs
up-and-coming companies into an open Fintech platform that serves
existing financial services, companies and corporations — in turn
encouraging and growing entrepreneurs within the region.
"The GBA is a huge and exciting area with plenty of
opportunities. But we can only take advantage of these
opportunities with a collective effort that gives full play to
Hong Kong's position as an
international financial center. By using technology to bring
financial institutions, FinTech companies and people together, we
can promote greater cross-border collaboration and turn this vision
into a reality," said Ms. Tan.
About OneConnect Financial Technology
OneConnect Financial Technology Co. Ltd. is a
technology-as-a-service platform for financial institutions. It is
a Chinese national high-tech enterprise and was listed on the New
York Stock Exchange in 2019 (NYSE: OCFT). The Company integrates
extensive financial services industry expertise with market-leading
technology to provide technology applications and
technology-enabled business services to financial institutions.
These solutions enable our customers' digital transformations,
which help them improve efficiency, enhance service quality, reduce
costs and risks.
OneConnect is an associate of Ping An Group. By leveraging Ping
An Group's over 30 years of extensive experience in financial
services, OneConnect has established long-term cooperation with
financial institutions to accurately addresses their needs of
digital transformation. The Company provides four integrated
solutions across the full scope of the businesses - from digital
retail banking, digital commercial banking, digital insurance to
Gamma Platform (the financial technology infrastructure provider).
Besides showing strength and deepening capacity as a financial
institution, OneConnect also actively promotes the digital
transformation of financial service ecology and provides trade,
credit, supply chain, data security, risk management and other
related scientific and technological services for the government,
regulatory and enterprise users. The company has also successfully
exported "Made in China"
technology solutions to overseas financial institutions. As of
June 30, 2021, it has served 100+
customers in 20 countries and regions mainly in Southeast Asia.
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SOURCE OneConnect