Industry

Xiaomi Obtained Hong Kong Virtual Bank License

On May 9th, 2019, a joint venture under Xiaomi and independent investment bankAMTD Group called Insight Fintech HK has been granted a Hong Kong virtual bank license, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

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According to Insight Fintech, its virtual banking services will be launched in six months. At its primary stage, Insight Virtual bank will focus on the combination of fintech and traditional banking, elevating user experience with frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and blockchain. The company aims to create a whole supply chain of financial services utilizing Xiaomi‘s upstream and downstream supply resources.

AMTD is a typical Hong Kong financial institution, growing to be one of the most comprehensive financial institutions in Asia. As a major investment bank, it supports many leading Chinese tech firms and financial institutions willing to expand to Hong Kong and the United States.

Xiaomi Obtained Virtual Banking License in Hong Kong
Xiaomi Obtained Virtual Banking License in Hong Kong (source: Xiaomi)

Xiaomi holds 90 percent of the joint venture shares, while AMTD holds 10 percent. Lei Jun, Xiaomi‘s CEO, is one of the board members of Insight Fintech. “Our virtual bank will enable every user to enjoy the pleasure of using fintech,” said Hong Feng, Xiaomi’s co-founder and senior vice president.

Insight Fintech Virtual Bank Core Team
Insight Fintech Virtual Bank Core Team (photo source: HKET)

Apart from Insight Fintech, the other three new licenses issued by HKMA are granted to Ping An Insurance’s subsidiary Ping An OneConnect and Ant Financial Services’ unit Ant SME Services.

“We are very pleased to issue four more virtual banking licenses today. The HKMA is closely following the eight licensed virtual banks to get them prepared and conduct business as planned.” Mr. Chen Delin, President of the HKMA said, “Hong Kong’s launching of virtual banking is an important part of measures to promote smart banking, which will drive financial innovation, and bring better customer experience as well as fostering universal finance.”

Featured photo credit to Xiaomi


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