Nowadays, FinTech is no longer a buzz word in media. In November 2020, International Financial Corporation (“IFC”), members of the…
Singaporean residents can collect the improved reusable masks from May 26 for three weeks until June 14. This will be the third nationwide distribution of masks……(continue reading)
Writer was exactly a Standard Chartered staff back to 2009. The only feeling of mine about the sponsorship to Liverpool is “Gosh, my year-end bonus is gone”. I believe a lot of people had similar feeling back on that day as year-end bonus substantially contributed the total compensation in banking back to the old day. Today, my feeling to the sponsorship is “Standard Chartered is the winner of recent Liverpool dominated global football era”. How Standard Chartered could make a good deal and foresee Liverpool would get a premier league champion and entitled a UEFA Champions League winner after 10 years? (continue reading)
With the escalation of the anti-extradition bill protest, some members of the community are advocating a public octopus strike to boycott the MTR Corporation. However, except for taxi, octopus seems to be the only electronic payment method available for most forms of transport in Hong Kong. This raises several questions: 1) There are many electronic payment methods in Hong Kong, including but limited to credit cards, Apple pay, Alipay, etc., but why the octopus is still the only solution to transportation payment, leaving alone cash? Meanwhile, Hong Kong as an international financial center, why many small shops and vendors still accept cash only, leaving not much sign of a “cashless society”? Recently, with the official launch of the Faster Payment System (FPS), Hong Kong seems to have taken a big step forward, but will it be enough to keep up with its foreign neighbors? (continue reading……)
At the end of the day, the answer of the question “virtual banks: to be or not to be? to benefit or not to benefit?” depends on whether they can make the most of technology to tackle the pain points of the current financing banking system. The question follows then that is: are we solving a purely technical problem or a system one? If it is a system issue, can virtual banks generate additional value? If not, why would Hong Kong people open virtual bank accounts when they already own traditional or even electronic banking accounts? If not, are we setting up virtual banks just for the sake of it? (continue reading……)
On November 27, 2019, US President Donald Trump passed the PROTECT Hong Kong Act and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Although the immediate effect of the two bills on Hong Kong will be little, Hong Kong’s long-term economic development can be at stake if Hong Kong becomes a battleground between the US and China. The Chief Executive Carrie lam said the bills could be detrimental to creating a favorable business environment in Hong Kong, given it is particularly difficult for Hong Kong to assess the impact of them on industrial development and to predict what actions the US would take at this stage. (continue reading……)