Fintech

The rapid onset of financial technology (Fintech) development has taken financial services and the world by storm. An emerging industry that uses big data and technology to compete with and disrupt traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services, Fintech has coerced existing financial service providers to embrace technology and provided fertile grounds for innovative start-ups. It encompasses a spectrum of technological financial services, including mobile banking, investment services, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, to increase accessibility and convenience.

As Fintech’s development is briskly being implemented in practice, the theoretical basis and fundamental knowledge are lagging behind. Hong Kong’s current position as a global financial hub is also a precarious one if it does not manage to keep abreast of technology. HKUST endeavors to address these issues by advancing the understanding and impact of Fintech on financial markets both locally and globally. The University has already secured a large-scale RGC Theme-based Research Project that will attempt to develop insights and strategies on Fintech applicable to Hong Kong’s economic environment, and aims to generate findings that will be transformed to a grand strategy with policy recommendations.