come to their platforms, institutions must reach out to customers in cyberspace. the technologies are there, such as open apis. but as i mentioned before, the technology has to be a means to an end that the consumer finds useful. and of course it must be secure and stable. 37. the second trend is that financial services will become increasingly real - time. gone are the days when we were able to handle everything with batch mode operations. customers are already expecting real - time execution in payment services, remittances, investment advice, and insurance applications – and this list will grow. this will require not only faster data connections or more computing power, but a whole range of new processes for assessment, risk controls and regulatory compliance. as banks upgrade their analytics and procedures to provide speedier customer services, regulators like the hkma will need to 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches work with them to adopt new suptech and regtech solutions to better meet these new challenges. 38. the third trend is the rising importance of cross - border applications of fintech solutions. technology offers ways to overcome some of the long - standing inefficiencies in financial services, like cross - border payments or trade finance. the use of blockchain technologies comes to mind. we have conducted pilot schemes with our peers in the region to try out blockchain solutions. for example, we have started a joint research project with the bank of thailand on implementing central bank digital currency in cross - border payments. we have also completed a proof - of - concept test with the we. trade platform to connect the digital trade finance platforms of hong kong and europe. so far, it looks quite promising, and we have engaged mainland china and singapore on similar connections. 39. a lot of future fintech development will involve cross - border collaboration. in recognition of this, the bank for international settlements ( bis ) decided to establish an innovation hub to explore macro issues that cut across jurisdictions. and i am delighted to say that the first innovation hub centre of the bis has recently commenced its operation here in hong kong, and we look forward to close collaboration with the hub. concluding remarks 40. fintech in hong kong has come a long way since we first held this event in 2016. many of you here have contributed to this progress. we now all look forward to building on our experience with exciting new initiatives and trends. the government, the financial regulators and the industry bodies all recognise that we need a

banking services. this is likely to force existing banks to consider how to further upgrade their services, and better make use of technology in their offerings. the result, i hope, will be a more innovative and globally competitive banking sector in hong kong, offering customers more diversified and efficient services. technology use is a means to an end 20. last but not least, we should bear in mind that the use of technology is a means to an 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches end, and not an end by itself. most people appreciate new technology for what it can do to improve their lives. they don ’ t really care whether the algorithms or the chips are amazingly innovative. to achieve wide adoption, any innovation has to offer users a “ unique value proposition ”. in plain language, the consumer wants to know “ what can it do for me? ” 21. take mobile payment as an example. this has rapidly taken off for retail payment in mainland china and some other places. in hong kong and other markets, people already use credit cards and e - payment systems like octopus, so mobile payments will grow more slowly. the point is that mobile payment technology is only the means to an end. the hong kong consumer will ask : “ what can it do for me? ”. mobile payment operators will need to give them an answer to that question – in addition to what current payment means like octopus can do, are they adding further value through new services like cross - border remittances or enhancing customer value through loyalty programmes. looking ahead 22. i hope you can see that we have moved ahead since three years ago, when some of you were telling us that the hkma was a big hindrance to fintech development. i am happy to say that the hkma is widely recognised locally and internationally for our proactive stance in fintech adoption. more importantly, hong kong is recognised for its much more mature fintech ecosystem, thanks to the adoption of technologies by banks, asset managers, insurers and other financial institutions here. so, what ’ s next? 23. to the general public, fintech has already brought significant changes to payments, banking and financial management. these new products and services will continue to improve and evolve. at the same time, technology adoption by financial institutions and regulators is likely going to bring another wave of changes. at first, this will probably be about efficiency gains in their internal operations. but in the long - run it may lead to profound changes in the