Hong Kong’s finance sector embraces GenAI, with adoption to reach 90% in 5 years: survey

The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in Hong Kong’s financial services industry is gathering pace, with a study showing that 75 per cent of companies surveyed are designing or implementing at least one use case.

This figure is projected to rise to nearly 90 per cent within the next three to five years, according to the study released on Wednesday by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance.

GenAI adoption has been higher among larger financial institutions, with 83 per cent having rolled out at least one GenAI use case or taking steps towards adoption, compared with 63 per cent of small firms, according to the survey.

“In the financial services industry, GenAI applications have the potential to lead to a more curated customer experience, and more efficient ways of processing and utilising digital information,” said Enoch Fung, CEO of the Academy of Finance and executive director of HKIMR.

A total of 55 entities across the insurance, wealth and asset management sectors took part in the study. These firms collectively represent 57 per cent of total deposits in the banking sector and 48 per cent of gross premiums in the insurance sector.