Fintech entrepreneurs, investors, regulators and corporate decision-makers were brought together to share insights, analyse sector trends, discuss opportunities and build new partnerships, at the inaugural HSBC Asia Fintech summit.
The latest growth drivers across Asia, including AI-aided solutions, financial inclusion, digital payments and tokenisation, were key points of discussion at the event, which was held in Hong Kong on 21 August 2026 and attended by nearly 150 clients.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, more than 40 corporate-investor meetings were scheduled as attendees used the event to connect ideas and capital.
In his opening remarks, Jo Miyake, Head of Banking, Asia and Middle East, HSBC, told delegates that artificial intelligence, and digital assets and currencies are turbo-charging the relationship between banks and fintechs.
“Our role is not only as a bank, but as a catalytic capital and service provider,” he said. “We bank fintechs as the only bank with a global Innovation Banking franchise, we partner strategically with them across our tech stack, and we invest in them via HSBC Ventures.”
He hailed Hong Kong for its financial leadership as the world’s leading IPO market last year, and as a key economy for companies in the Chinese mainland looking to raise capital.
Representatives from the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, and the Fintech Association of Hong Kong celebrated other strengths of the city: it’s one of the most liquid markets globally, has broad access to investors, and is supported by a strong regulatory and legal pathway to listings.
During a discussion led by Chuan He, Head of Fintech Investment Banking, Asia, delegates heard from the founders of Micro Connect, Surfin and WeLab on how fintechs are addressing financial inclusion across Asia by rapidly connecting underbanked individuals to services. They also shared how they’re integrating AI into their operations and testing out potential use cases.
“Fintechs face two major challenges: one is they need to convince investors and backers of their story as early-stage businesses, and two, they need to have the right access to long-term investments in their business for growth,” said Chuan.
“We’ve brought together fintech founders and investors to have direct conversations, to connect capital with the right opportunities and to engage in discussions with regulators.”
Head of Innovation Banking, Asia, Jonathan Yip, moderated a panel on the innovation sector’s Asia-Middle East corridor, where business models have become multi-dimensional and partnerships mutually complementary.
Building strong human relationships based on trust was deemed critical for long-term, inter-regional connectivity, the panel heard.
Asia’s next chapter
In the afternoon, Chito Jeyarajah, Head of Capital Markets and Advisory, Asia, highlighted the five major forces shaping Asia’s next chapter in financial services: digital lending, digital assets and tokenisation, mass affluent growth, insurtech and AI.
Delegates heard how fintechs in the digital lending space are using AI tools to assess risks, debug products, improve operational flow and help clients to scale their businesses.
Stablecoin and other digital assets – recognised for their 24/7 liquidity and instant cross-border settlement – also formed a key topic. The challenge today is to boost public confidence for increased adoption and to explore customer-serving use cases, the summit was told.
Chuan said: “We launched this annual summit to connect founders and investors with HSBC expertise, as we are at the very centre to advise them, partner with them and invest in them, converting insight into execution.
“We hope founders left the summit with clear funding paths, investors connected with companies across stages and sectors, and corporates gathered insights on embedded finance, global payments, AI enablement, and digital assets.”
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HSBC ‘growing across all our indicators’ | Disruption Banking
