As a Fintech, Virtual Bank and InsurTech recruitment specialist, I have a proven track record of partnering with different reputable Fintech companies. I have helped set up various functions and departments from scratch, covering a full spectrum of positions at all levels and across fields like Legal, Risk, Compliance, Audit, Technology, Operations, Product Development, EO, Project Management and Relationship Management.
As more and more candidates consider entering the booming industry of Fintech, some of the most common questions I hear include:
Are my skills transferrable?
What are Fintech companies looking for?
What kind of personality fits best within the Fintech world?
At Argyll Scott, we know that one size does not fit all, and the same holds true here. They are not looking for that cookie-cutter candidate or just waiting for the unicorn hire, so it is more important to look for opportunities that are in line with your personal goals and interests, for which the Fintech industry has plenty to offer.
If you’re looking for some insights into how Fintech is shaping Hong Kong’s banking landscape, I would recommend looking at HKIMR’s Research Report. For those looking for a quicker read, here are a few points extracted from the report that I think are worth noting.
FEELING THE IMPACT OF FINTECH
Reflecting the growing influence of Fintech on the banking industry, the proportion of incumbent banks expecting Fintech to have no impact on their business operations in the next five years is significantly lower (0% to 26%) than that currently (23% to 52%). Most of the incumbent banks considering no impact on their business operations currently, recognise that they could not be unaffected in the future.
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WIDESPREAD FINTECH ADOPTION ACROSS ALL FINANCIAL SERVICES
Fintech firms are driving changes in financial markets by developing innovative technologies that reduce costs and provide customers with improved experiences. Banks respond by either embracing such development or are forced to adapt to this fast-changing market environment by applying these new financial technologies in order to stay competitive. Incumbent banks in Hong Kong are embracing Fintech and progressively applying Fintech innovations across all types of financial services, with most respondents (ranging from 70% to 100% of them) either having applied or planning to apply Fintech innovations in the various lines of businesses undertaken by their institutions.
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RETAIL BANKS ARE MORE KEEN ON FINTECH INNOVATION ADOPTION
Providing a further breakdown of the adoption in major Fintech innovations among incumbent banks into retail and foreign banks, survey results show that Fintech adoption of retail banks in various innovation areas are generally higher than foreign banks.
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FINTECH PRESENTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE
For the next five years, banks expecting Fintech to be an opportunity continue to tangibly outnumber those seeing it as a threat, across all financial services.
Incumbents view Fintech more as opportunities than threats to their business operations, now and in the future. Notably, across all financial services, a greater proportion of the incumbent banks consider Fintech as an opportunity in the next five years.
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HAVE BANKS MET THEIR OBJECTIVES?
PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS OF FINTECH’S POSITIVE EFFECTS ON BANKS’ PERFORMANCE
A preliminary attempt is made to gauge whether incumbent banks have benefitted from adopting Fintech by examining the relationship between Fintech adoption and changes in banks’ cost-to-income ratio and return on assets (ROA). Initial results show that changes in banks’ cost-to-income ratio and ROA are statistically correlated with their Fintech adoption status. A bank with a higher level of Fintech adoption is associated with a larger cumulative decline in its cost-to-income ratio as well as a larger cumulative rise in its ROA, other things being equal.
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LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
VIRTUAL BANKS EXPECT GREATER FINTECH IMPACT ON FUTURE BANKING INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
While most virtual banks (63% of respondents) consider the “better bank scenario” as highly possible, half of them also see the “distributed bank scenario” and the “new bank scenario” highly possible. This suggests that virtual banks in general expect a bigger impact of Fintech innovations on traditional banking services and a more dramatic change in the structure of Hong Kong’s banking industry.
If you are interested to explore opportunities within Fintech or curious to know more about the industry, don’t hesitate to contact me at +852 3695 5071 or gchan@argyllscott.com.hk for a confidential discussion.
Posted over 3 years ago