Singapore, HK are finance, fintech partners, not rivals: Analysts

HONG Kong and Singapore are often pitted against each other as rival international finance and fintech hubs, but analysts say the two cities should be seen as partners - a view fintech companies seem to support too.

After a successful launch in Singapore last April, fintech startup Bambu, which specialises in financial robo-advisory, looked to Hong Kong as it sought to expand its reach.

It opened its first overseas office there earlier this month and joined a local fintech accelerator, SuperCharger.

On Thursday, it was named Best Early Stage Startup at the Fintech Finals 2017 in Hong Kong.

"There is a unique bond between Singapore and Hong Kong as regional hubs . . . with many financial institutions having split teams between the two. The close proximity in distance and culture helps, and both markets mainly operate in English which makes market entry simple," Bambu chief operating officer Aki Ranin told The Business Times.

"We are looking to grow our team and business in our second market after Singapore."

Another Singapore startup and Fintech Finals 2017 finalist, PolicyPal, which runs a mobile app digitising and collating users' insurance policies, is also eyeing the Hong Kong market.

"We are looking at Hong Kong with a few potential partners," said founder and CEO Val Yap.

Since its launch in June 2016 , PolicyPal has grown from a team of three dealing with 500 users to a team of 12 overseeing 8,000 users. It is now poised for further expansion.

"Hong Kong offers opportunity as a gateway to China," said Ms Yap. "Being the pioneer in insurtech in Asia, we are driving hard to work with insurers, encouraging them to open APIs for partnerships and linking up the eco-system."

Fintech companies have much to gain for having one foot each in Hong Kong and Singapore, said Accenture senior managing director Jon Allaway, who oversees the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific.

"Hong Kong and Singapore both recognise the value of supporting and promoting fintech - encouraging an entrepreneurial business community that also feeds into the established financial services sector is sound economic development sense," he told BT.

"Hong Kong's selling point is it is the gateway to China; Singapore is the gateway to all of ASEAN. They both have complementary strengths so while many like to pitch the scenario as one against another, it's not that at all. Both can and will succeed."

This article was first published on Jan 23, 2017.
Get The Business Times for more stories.