Media

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.

About the HKU FinTech Index Series Project
The HKU FinTech Index Series Project introduces the Hong Kong FinTech Growth Index (FGI) and the Hong Kong FinTech Buzz Index (FBI) to gauge local FinTech companies' outlook on the industry and the general sentiment on the sector as reported by local press. It is the first in the region to provide index indicators on the development of the sector, with an aim to provide information in a timely manner to track the growth and development of the financial technology industry in Hong Kong.

FGI is a yearly index with four sub-indices on Business Environment, Business Performance, Investment on R&D and Demand on Talent. It reflects Hong Kong FinTech sector's forecast of the market situation in the coming year and gives an assessment of the situation in the current year. FBI is a quarterly index representing a quantified sentiment of the local FinTech-related news articles in Chinese for the past three months. The index has a base value of 100 points which represents the sentiment of nearly 10K FinTech related news articles in major local news media outlets in 2016 and 2017. FBI is further broken down into six sectors: Insurance Technology (InsurTech), Wealth Management and Credit Technology (WealthTech & CreditTech), Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, E-Payment & Digital Banking, Regulatory Technology (RegTech) & Cybersecurity and other related business including AI and big data.

The project was initiated by the technology transfer company of the University - Versitech Limited, and is led by Dr Philip Yu of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science of the Faculty of Science.

About HKU FinTech Index Advisory Board
The Advisory Board comprises professionals from the University of Hong Kong and the local FinTech industry, including representatives from FinTech Association of Hong Kong, InvestHK, Cyberport, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, and The Bank of East Asia, Limited. The members provide expert advice on the FinTech companies to be included in the master list for the annual survey to return the FinTech Growth Index. They also advise the Project on index methodology.

For further information on the HKU FinTech Index Series Project, please visit the project's website at www.fintechindex.hku.hk.

For media enquiry:
Ms Melanie Wan, Communication and Public Affairs Office, HKU (Tel: 2859 2600 / Email: melwkwan@hku.hk), or
Dr Philip L.H. Yu, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Faculty of Science, HKU (Email: plhyu@hku.hk)