E&Y: Hong Kong Has Highest Rate Of FinTech Adoption

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 6:31 AM UTC

Hong Kong has emerged as the leader in fintech adoption, according to Ernst & Young FinTech Adoption Index.

The survey was conducted over 10,000 digitally active people in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US. The survey found that Hong Kong has the highest rate of FinTech use of all markets surveyed (29.1%). The US has the second-highest adoption rate (16.5%), followed by Singapore (14.7%), the UK (14.3%), Australia (13%) and Canada (8.2%).

Percentage of digitally active population by countries. The index is weighted by total population. (E&Y)
EY said that early FinTech adopters tend to be younger, higher-income customers, with adoption concentrated in high-development urban areas such as New York, Hong Kong and London.

“Our survey shows that 15.5% of digitally active consumers have used at least two FinTech products within the last six months. As awareness of the available products and services increases, adoption rates could double within the year”, the report said.

According to the survey, the most-used FinTech services include money transfers/payments (goods and services, transfer money between accounts and send it overseas) -17.6%; followed by savings and investment products (such as online stockbroking/spreadbetting, online budgeting/planning, online investments, equity and rewards crowdfunding and peer-to-peer or marketplace lending) – 16.7%; Insurance - 7.7% and Borrowing - 5.6%.

Percentage of digitally active customers who have used each product (E&Y) Coming to the obstacles for fintech adoption, the report said that the lack of awareness is the major impediment. Quite surprisingly, trust has not been a major obstacle – only 11.2% of respondents said they don’t trust FinTech products.

FinTech, as the name suggests, refers to any kind of technology relating to the financial sector, ItProPortal explains. While earlier it was limited to PCs and software used by financial companies and institutions, FinTech has become a very broad term with the rapid adoption of the Internet, smartphones and mobile applications. Mobile payments system, cryptocurrencies, crowdsourcing, and even social media platforms have taken the fintech revolution to the next level.