HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or "the Group", HKEx: 2318; SSE: 601318) is delighted to announce that the financial technology (Fintech) subsidiary - OneConnect commences its operations in Indonesia to enable local banks and financial institutions to accelerate their efforts in digitization of financial services and move towards a more inclusive financial industry.
Indonesia is the largest and fastest growing internet economy in Southeast Asia with a $27 billion economy in 2018[1]. Despite the huge potential, the country's Fintech industry continues to face various challenges. Large financial institutions are looking for ways to scale up their technological capabilities quickly, while small financial institutions struggle with lack of funds, hampering them in reaching potential customers and in growing their business.
OneConnect offers full suite of proven and tested technology solutions ranging from Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Biometrics Identification, and other advanced technology solutions that were used by Ping An.
"In just three years, OneConnect has established a successful business that has already provided advanced Fintech solutions to thousands of banks and other financial institutions in China and abroad. We are very excited to provide our portfolio of solutions to Indonesia, where I strongly believe we can help local banks and financial institutions adopt the best that Fintech has to offer," said Hannah Qiu, Co-General Manager of OneConnect.
"We understand the challenges Indonesia's Fintech industry is facing, and this is where OneConnect is able to support. Just as OneConnect leveraged the mobile-first environment in China to gain massive consumer adoption and provide financial access to the underbanked and unbanked, we look to work with local banks and other financial institutions to replicate the success with tailored solutions to help them through their challenges," Tan Bin Ru, CEO of OneConnect Financial Technology (Singapore) said.
One of the company's highlighted technologies in Biometric Authentication is the Facial Recognition (FR) technology which has 99.8 percent facial recognition accuracy. The technology was recognized as No. 1 worldwide, by Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW)[2] database. Financial institutions in Indonesia could utilize this technology to accurately and safely verify customers' identities during the customer onboarding process other than banking and financial purposes, FR use cases include passport verification in immigration, or passport verification when buying a new SIM card abroad. FR provides the technology that allows matching of an actual person's face against photo and data provided by the biometric chip in the passport. The company provides a full suite of Biometrics solutions, including Liveness Detection, Voiceprint, Microexpression, etc.
Another of the most popular solutions would be the OneConnect's Blockchain based trade finance and supply chain solutions. Being one of the earliest companies to develop and deploy Blockchain technology in China, the company is also the technology provider of the Hong Kong eTradeConnect platform, a Blockchain-based trade finance platform which aims to improve trade efficiency, build better trust among trade participants, and reduce risks by leveraging on Blockchain technology. This is supported by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and supported by the founding banks in Hong Kong. With their advanced Blockchain technology, the company has also rolled out supply chain finance systems for some of the largest corporations in China to allow their upstream suppliers to get financed easier and faster.
"These technologies will equip Indonesian banks and other financial institutions with end-to-end services that would increase their efficiencies, enhance risk-control capabilities, and cost reduction – which means local financial institutions could enhance their services and offerings, providing more financial access to a greater number of Indonesians," said Hendra Tan, President Director of PT OneConnect Financial Technology Indonesia.
To mark the first step in the company's effort toward accelerating digital transformation in Indonesia's finance industry, OneConnect is forming a partnership with Indonesia's traditional market association (ASPARINDO). The collaboration will see OneConnect conducting training workshops and also performing site visits at the markets to help the traders and kiosks digitize themselves.
"We are excited to be part of this joint effort to transform the conventional way of doing finance, using technology that is more efficient, powerful, and cost-effective. We look forward to utilizing OneConnect's technology so that we can provide greater digital financial access to traders or kiosks in the market, thereby allowing their customers and suppliers to take part effectively in the financial technology ecosystem as well," said Joko Setiyanto, Chairman of ASPARINDO.
With its world-class and comprehensive suites of technology, OneConnect is well suited to support Indonesian banks and other financial institutions' capability to scale up, and therefore provide financial access to more Indonesians.
About Ping An
Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered personal financial services group. With 182 million customers and 513 million Internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world.
Ping An has two over-arching strategies 'pan financial assets' and 'pan healthcare', which focus on the provision of financial and healthcare services through our integrated financial services platform and our five ecosystems in financial services, healthcare, auto services, real estate services and Smart City services. Our aim is to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An Group is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The company is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Ping An ranked 10th in Forbes' 2018 Global 2000, and it ranked 29th in Fortune Magazine's 2018 Global 500 Leading Companies. Ping An also ranked 43rd in 2018 WPP Millward Brown's BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. For more information, please visit www.pingan.cn
About OneConnect
OneConnect is a leading Fintech SaaS provider of advanced technology-enabled business solutions to small and medium-sized financial institutions. Our solutions are based on the world-class technologies including AI, Blockchain, Cloud platform, and Biometrics Identification. Currently, OneConnect has 101 products in four business disciplines including Digital Banking Solutions, Digital Insurance Solutions, Digital Investment Solutions, and SaaS Cloud Platform, covering sales, product development, risk management, operations and technology. They are a comprehensive Fintech solution provider that has coverage of all major financial industries as well as front, middle and back office functions.
Some of OneConnect's major achievements include a 99.8% recognition accuracy in facial recognition and 99%+ in VPR accuracy. They are world-class in the aspects of voiceprint, micro-expression and NLP recognition. OneConnect is also one of the earliest companies to develop and apply blockchain technology in China, exploring 12 application scenarios including finance, medical healthcare, customs, trade, real estate and auto.
As of the end of 2018 Q3, OneConnect has served over 483 banks, 42 insurers, and nearly 2500 non-bank financial institutions with advanced fintech solutions. Earlier this year, they completed a Round A financing with a post-investment valuation of 7.5 billion dollars.
For enquiries, please contact:
Gareth Hewett @ +852 68822027 or gareth.john@pingan.com.hk
[1] Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA 2018
[2] an authoritative organization in facial recognition database