E-payment business booms in Hong Kong with IT service sector seen as having great development potential

HONG KONG,Sept. 14,2018 -- In recent years,mobile payment and innovative technologies have gradually become part and parcel of the daily life of the people of Hong Kong. On September 5,two unattended shops opened in the city. Speaking recently at a seminar on innovation and technology,Larry Yu,CEO of Hong Kong renowned IT services provider Kinetix Systems Holdings Limited (HKEX:08606) said,with the increasing acceptance of e-payment in Hong Kong,the industry is entering a period brimming with increasingly significant business opportunities.

In comments made following the speech at the seminar,Mr Yu said that the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has,in recent years,been actively advocating the adoption of e-payment as the preferred mode for settling day-to-day transactions. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched a fast-track payment system this month to provide instantaneous interbank payment or transfer services. As a company with nearly 20 years of experience in the IT advisory services industry,Kinetix Systems firmly believes that,as a result of favourable government policies,e-payment has a bright future in Hong Kong. He explained that it is the right time to start promoting mobile payment as the technology backing it is now quite mature. In addition,due to the high rental and labour costs associated with running a shop in Hong Kong,e-payment,as it may help small and medium-sized merchants significantly reduce operating costs as well as easily obtain complete sales data and analyses,is seen as having a huge potential in Hong Kong's retail sector.

Yu is of the opinion that the popularity of e-payment will drive the future development of the company. "The popularity of computers and their wide use in various industries a few decades ago ultimately led to a sharp increase in the demand for telecommunications technology professionals. By the same token,as more and more shops start to adopt e-payment services,we,as an experienced IT service provider in Hong Kong,can also expect to benefit from this through an increase in our order flow," he said. Yu further explained: AI technology is the trend of the future and professionals with the right expertise and skillsets will be in high demand as the area will need ongoing development. Notably,Kinetix Systems' goals are not limited to Hong Kong. Yu said that the larger Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area has been developing rapidly in recent years,and,as a result,the company plans to enter Mainland China and is expected to open a branch in Heyuan,Guangdong Province,in the second half of this year,in a move to strategically position itself in the market and play an active role as Guangdong Province and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area follow Hong Kong's lead in adopting e-payment.

Yu noted that in the early years of Mainland China's reform and opening up,Hong Kong businessmen mainly played the role of importing capital and technology into the Mainland. However,as a result of the Mainland's accelerated development in recent years,the role of Hong Kong companies has also evolved. He said,"We plan to take a close look at some high-tech companies in the Mainland,and then work together to use Hong Kong as a platform to promote advanced technology from the China Mainland to overseas markets." Founded in 1998,Kinetix Systems is a prestigious IT service provider in Hong Kong that focuses on providing IT infrastructure and IT development solutions,as well as IT maintenance and support. Its clients are mainly government and non-government public organizations and multinational companies in the retail,distribution,trade,banking,finance and insurance sectors,among others.