[Hong Kong FinTech Association] White Paper: 38% AI Adoption Rate in Hong Kong Financial Services Industry, Surpassing Global Average

The latest survey by the Financial Technology Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK) shows that the adoption rate of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in Hong Kong’s financial services industry has reached 38%, leading the world; however, a number of structural weaknesses may undermine Hong Kong’s current leading advantage.

In its white paper titled “Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services: Hong Kong’s Path Forward,” FTAHK states that although Hong Kong’s AI adoption rate is far above the global average of 26%, maintaining a competitive edge still requires addressing multiple challenges, including a shortage of talent, fragmented data infrastructure, regulatory uncertainty, and ethical concerns that have yet to be resolved.

The white paper notes that while most AI applications are currently still focused on internal use and have not yet been directly offered to customers, if Hong Kong is to further expand AI into higher-value use cases, it must address four key structural challenges:

To drive a leap forward in AI application development at the enterprise level, the FTAHK council has formulated a comprehensive blueprint and set multiple 2030 targets, including:

• Achieving an AI application adoption rate of 90% across all financial institutions in Hong Kong;
• Attracting angel investment, venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), and family office funding related to AI totaling HK$8 billion to HK$12 billion;
• Launching more than 75 entirely new AI-native financial products and services;
• Securing a spot among the top three in global finance industry AI innovation.

The blueprint also offers specific recommendations to various stakeholders, including urging regulators such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to develop clearer, principle-based guidance for validating AI models, and to expand the scope of the regulatory sandbox, especially to make it easier for SMEs to participate. The white paper also calls on the government to streamline AI funding schemes and to hold formal discussions with relevant authorities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area to promote cross-border data flows for training AI models.

To consolidate Hong Kong’s leading position as an international financial center, the white paper says the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area will play a key role. Specifically, application scenarios that cover the entire Greater Bay Area—highly personalized wealth management services driven by AI, as well as cross-border payment infrastructure optimized by AI—will help Hong Kong continue to maintain its lead in AI applications.

Other application scenarios to drive Hong Kong toward an AI future include:

• Converting compliance and regulation into a competitive advantage through AI-enabled real-time monitoring and predictive violation detection capabilities;
• Helping the insurance industry shift from the passive “claims and payouts” model to a proactive “predict and prevent” model;
• Strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a global hub for green finance and ESG analytics;
• Meeting the needs of local SMEs through “cognitive financial agents” with features such as automatic bookkeeping, cash-flow forecasting, and tailored financing recommendation functions;
• Developing an AI-driven talent training platform;
• Automating trade finance processes; and
• Increasing employee productivity through AI-driven internal assistants.

In addition, to address the talent challenge, the blueprint in the white paper proposes a number of specific milestones, including facilitating partnerships between universities and top financial institutions and launching AI talent development pilot programs. The program aims to train more than 200 professional talents each year, covering key areas such as AI risk management, ethics, and data governance; the first batch of trainees is expected to begin studies in the first half of 2027.

Wang Yue (Lareina Wang), Chairperson of the Financial Technology Association of Hong Kong, said that Hong Kong is at a critical moment. Research shows that Hong Kong is at the forefront in embracing AI, but this leading advantage is fragile. The decisions Hong Kong makes regarding AI governance and ecosystem development will determine whether Hong Kong can consolidate its position as a leading international financial center—or whether it will be left behind.

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