Hong Kong – WeLab Holdings (“WeLab”), a leading Fintech company in Asia, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary WeLab Digital Limited (“WeLab virtual bank”) has been granted a virtual banking license by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”), becoming the first homegrown Hong Kong fintech company to establish a virtual bank.
Simon Loong, the Founder and CEO of WeLab, said: “WeLab is honored to be granted a virtual banking license in Hong Kong. WeLab will fully dedicate its resources to provide seamless digital financial services built for the customer, leveraging on the proven track record, cumulative knowledge and experience over the last six years. As a Hong Kong homegrown innovator and fintech company, we believe that the license is validation and recognition of our innovative mindset and proven fintech capabilities.”
Looking ahead, Simon Loong also mentioned that WeLab virtual bank will continue to leverage the advanced fintech capabilities and experienced leadership team to revolutionize the banking experience for Hong Kong customers, with the aim of providing more convenient and diversified retail banking services and products to Hong Kong customers.
Instilling the core philosophy of the “3I” – Instant, Interactive and Intelligent, WeLab will use artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning and other leading technologies to design and build products and services to bring a new digital experience for the Hong Kong public. WeLab virtual bank is expected to launch in 6 - 9 months’ time.
WeLab’s Senior Advisor Professor KC Chan, former Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and former Dean of the Business School at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), will be appointed as Chairman of WeLab virtual bank, and said “Virtual banking heralds a new stage of development for Hong Kong banking and fintech. As Chairman of WeLab Digital, I will lead the team to build on WeLab’s success, leading with technology to promote financial inclusion.”
Right to Left：WeLab Founder and CEO and WeLab virtual bank non-executive Director Simon Loong, WeLab virtual bank Chief Executive and executive director Dr William Leung, WeLab Senior Advisor and Chairman of WeLab virtual bank Professor KC Chan, WeLab virtual bank Alternate Chief Executive and executive Director Tat Lee
The WeLab Hong Kong and virtual bank team
About WeLab
Founded in 2013 in Hong Kong, WeLab is reinventing traditional financial services by creating seamless mobile experiences. With its proprietary risk management technology, WeLab effectively analyses unstructured mobile big data within seconds to make credit decisions for individual customers. WeLab operates in both the B2C and B2B segments, under the brand WeLend in Hong Kong as well as consumer finance operations in Mainland China and Indonesia, with over 36 million registered users. The company also partners with traditional financial institutions which utilise WeLab’s technology to offer fintech-enabled solutions to their customers.
WeLab was named in a KPMG-sponsored report as one of the top 100 FinTech companies in the world – #7 in China and #23 globally – and was ranked by Deloitte as the #1 fastest growing tech company by revenue in Hong Kong and #4 in China. WeLab’s investors include Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad, CK Hutchison’s TOM Group, International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, China Construction Bank (International), Sequoia Capital and ING Bank.
For more information, please visit www.welab.co
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