Hong Kong virtual insurer Bowtie eyes disruption amid HKMA’s fintech push in securities and insurance sectors

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The move means that different regulators in Hong Kong will work to build an ecosystem for banks, insurance companies, financial firms and other tech start-ups, virtual insurer Bowtie’s Fred Ngan says

Securities brokers can use tech to improve risk management and enhance payments to clients: financial services sector lawmaker Robert Lee Wai-wang

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Fred Ngan Yiu-fai, Bowtie’s co-founder and co-CEO, at the virtual insurer’s Bow Coffee in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Enoch Yiu

Published: 7:30am, 6 Oct 2023

The latest move by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), expanding its fintech development road map to include insurance firms and brokers, will encourage more financial companies to adopt technology for cutting costs and enhancing services, industry players said.

The HKMA, Hong Kong’s de facto central bank, said in August that it would team up with the Insurance Authority (IA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to encourage financial firms to invest in technology to enhance their wealth management, insurance and green finance services.

“[The move] means that different regulators will work together to build up an ecosystem for banks, insurance companies, financial firms and other tech start-ups,” Fred Ngan Yiu-fai, the co-founder and co-CEO of virtual insurer Bowtie, said in an interview. “[They will] tackle infrastructural challenges to make financial services even more accessible to underserved segments.”

The HKMA first launched the road map in June 2021 with the aim of encouraging the city’s more than 160 banks to invest in technology to enhance their services.

“The adoption of new technology can support insurance companies in disrupting how insurance is bought,” Ngan said.

The use of new technology could potentially lead to faster claims processing and a personalised customer experience, he added. Insurance companies could also use generative artificial intelligence to write educational content faster and better, which is a critical part of the online insurance journey.