In its ongoing tussle with regional neighbours to become the leading fintech hub, Hong Kong is now building from the ground up.
As the financial technology competition gets even sharper Hong Kong is hoping to gain an edge by building up a production line of young talent.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in conjunction with a number of local and international banks and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) jointly held the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme (FCAS) Induction Day, welcoming the interns and marking the official commencement of their trainings and internships.
Hong Kong The Premier Hub
speaking at the event Meikei Ieong, Chief Technology Officer of ASTRI, said «Hong Kong being the premier global financial hub in Asia, it is imperative for us to groom and attract more fintech talents in order to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of fintech talents. ASTRI and the HKMA play an instrumental role through the FCAS – partnering with banks and tertiary institutions to nurture fintech talents in our city with industry-relevant technical skills.»
Singapore, Australia Japan and of course the world's largest fintech marketplace China, are all laying claim to become the leading financial technology centre.
Local and International Banks
Internship periods in the new scheme will be between six months to a year and will cover work within cybersecurity, distributed ledger technology, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, biometric authentication and mobile app development.
Of 421 students who applied for the scheme, 74 have been picked.
The banks are: Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch, The Bank of East Asia, BNP Paribas Hong Kong, Citibank (Hong Kong), DBS Bank (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, ICBC (Asia), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and Wing Lung Bank.
