What's coming?
What's the new tech?
Well, the new tech isn't nearly as powerful as smartphones
in transformation and implications for FinTech today
But it might matter for the future
And so if you're looking at new apps, you're looking at new ideas
New startups, new businesses, you might want to look and say
what is enabled by new technologies?
What kind of new technologies?
Well, some of them are wearable technologies, like a Fitbit
can track your steps
If you can track your steps, you may be able to tie it to your insurance and say
if you walk 10,000 steps a day
we'll give you a cheaper price on your life insurance
We'll give you a cheaper price on your health insurance
because you're more likely to be healthy and live longer
We also might assume that if you exercise every day and do certain things and
live a certain lifestyle, you might be a better risk for a loan
For credit card, for other things, because people that exercise every day may
in data mining, turn out to be people who don't default as much on debt
They're more responsible citizens of their community, and
more trustworthy in some way
And so wearables may matter
Apple Watch becomes part of your daily life
May replace Fitbit or be an alternative to it, and may do much, much more
in affecting your life and enabling new applications, new capabilities
Some of these technologies may be things like wireless pre-paid cards or
other services
In Hong Kong society, where I live today, there's a card called the Octopus card
The Octopus card is a wireless contact list payment system that is a stored
value card
Now that may say boring and whatever
We've had stored value cards for a long time
And this is not new tech
Now so this is like a smartphone
It's more than ten years old tech
But it has changed society in many ways
Because of its very high convenience factor, because you can take your Octopus
card, keep it your wallet, keep it in your purse, walk on to the subway
not have to take it off at all, just wave it over a scanner
It's a wireless, contactless card, stores value
You can then go to a vending machine, get yourself a Coke
then go to a restaurant, pay your bill with that, then take the bus home
And then go pay for your groceries at a grocery store all using your Octopus card
When it runs out of money it can be tied to your bank account, so
it can automatically replenish
Although, you don't have to do that
You can stay anonymous or you can be identified, it's your choice
And so it's a powerful, contactless, convenient transaction system
Not for big transactions, but beautiful for
small cash-like transactions to the point where society in
Hong Kong has more than 99% penetration of the Octopus card
It is the dominant payment system in society and
many people don't need to carry cash anymore
You just use Octopus for everything
If you don't use Octopus, you probably would use a credit card or
debit card but Octopus is probably your first choice for a payment system