Ambition Career Insight Series: FINTECH AND

FinTech, the abbreviation of Financial Technology, is a buzzword within the Banking and Financial Services industry. It implies the advancement and innovation of various financial activities by new technologies and has transformed operational processes. For instance, innovations include mobile payments, online loan lending, trading automation, and AI customer service chatbots have all contributed to the growth of FinTech. Today, the rise of Fintech's influence has grown far beyond than just a buzzword, it has evolved into a Career Option today.

This year’s first Ambition’s Career Insights Series was aimed at examining the trend of talent transitioning from traditional Financial Services industries to FinTech industries. Our distinguished panel speakers - Maggie Ng, Founder & CEO of Finex Asia, Paul Ip, CRO of Welab Holdings, and Mandy Tang, former CMO of K&R International Limited, shared their personal experiences and insights on the rapidly evolving FinTech industry.

Here are some valuable takeaways from our discussion:

• Banking focuses on past track records. Decision-making is time-consuming and bureaucratic involving numerous internal and external stakeholders with minimal tolerance of mistakes, especially in terms of developing and implementing new ideas. On the contrary, FinTech focuses on creating a brighter future by experimenting with creative ideas to solve financial issues. One must be assertive to make fast decisions with limited resources and undergo the trial and error process.

• Talent possessing both technical knowledge and business savviness are highly sought-after. There is currently a shortage of talent in Hong Kong. FinTech entities most likely encounter challenges in finding highly skilled technical talent, such as Technical Engineers in Hong Kong. This can pose a risk to growing products or businesses regionally.

• To succeed in the fast-changing FinTech industry, entrepreneurship is of paramount importance. Entrepreneurs should be certain and confident about themselves in creating an impact. At the same time, they should continuously and proactively acquire new knowledge and skills in both the financial and technology industries worldwide. The key to a FinTech firm's or product's success is to remain open-minded, embrace new ideas, accept risks, and learn from mistakes quickly.

It was my pleasure to be the moderator during such a lively, and colourful discussions between our panel speakers.

To see more photos from the event, please click here: Facebook album

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