Beast, the fintech collaboration platform of Bank of East Asia (BEA), will host its first fintech day in October as part of its efforts to develop a technology ecosystem in Hong Kong, a top executive said.
The first Beast FinTech Day will take place during Fintech Week from October 28 to November 1. Start-ups, banks and technology companies will come together and exchange ideas via panel discussions at the BEA Tower in Kwun Tong.
“As we celebrate Beast’s second anniversary, we are excited to host our first FinTech Day, cementing our position as a ‘super connector’ in the FinTech ecosystem,” said Stephen Leung, Group Chief Information Officer at BEA.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP knowledgeour new platform featuring carefully curated content with explanations, FAQs, analyses and infographics, brought to you by our award-winning team.
“We strive to create valuable collaborations and win-win situations for banks, start-ups and customers.”
BEA, Hong Kong’s oldest family-owned bank, established Beast in 2022 to help startups explore different fintech solutions for the banking sector. Startups that partner with Beast can receive up to HK$300,000 (US$38,462) in grants to develop fintech ideas, as well as free use of co-working office space at BEA Tower.
Since its inception, Beast has worked with over 70 companies to develop more than 120 fintech concepts, 30 of which have been successfully implemented by BEA and other lenders. Projects have focused on regulatory, payment, Web3, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).
Bank of East Asia’s first Beast Fintech Day will be held during Fintech Week from October 28 to November 1. Photo: Shutterstock alt=Bank of East Asia’s first Beast Fintech Day will be held during Fintech Week from October 28 to November 1. Photo: Shutterstock>
Miles Wen, co-founder and CEO of Fano Labs, a Hong Kong startup specializing in using AI to develop customer service and compliance needs, said he found the Beast platform extremely useful for its development.
“Working with the Beast team was an invaluable experience, allowing us to deeply understand the needs and expectations from a bank perspective,” Wen said. “This will support our future collaborations with other clients and help us contribute to the development of the fintech industry in Hong Kong.”
Another branch of the Beast was set up in Qianhai last October, ahead of the opening of the bank’s regional headquarters in the free trade zone in January this year.
“The Beast in Qianhai can help connect startups and the banking sector in the Greater Bay Area, which is going to be an important development region (for the industry),” Leung said. It can help develop solutions to support cross-border transactions and other banking services in the Bay Area, he added.
Leung said Beast’s initiatives are in line with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s efforts to promote fintech development. The city’s de facto central bank launched the Faster Payment System in 2018 and followed it up with the introduction of eight virtual banks in 2020 to promote the banking sector’s adoption of fintech to improve customer service and boost operational efficiency.
“Normally, a bank would need a lot of time to develop a new fintech application on its own, but now Beast can incentivize startups and other global partners to develop such technology faster and tailor it to the bank’s needs,” he said.
In addition to local startups, Beast also works with partners from the UK, US, Israel and mainland China.
One of these is Silverfort, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, which was introduced to Beast by the office of the Israeli consul general. The company uses AI-driven tools to detect and prevent identity-based breaches and helps BEA with the account authentication process.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP)the most authoritative voice covering China and Asia for over a century. For more SCMP stories, explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook And Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
