(Hong Kong, Shanghai, 20 February 2019) 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. 

Hannah Qiu, Co-General Manager of OneConnect and Tan Bin Ru, CEO of OneConnect Financial Technology (Singapore) at the opening ceremony of PT OneConnect Financial Technology Indonesia

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.

(1) Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA 2018

(2) an authoritative organization in facial recognition database