Major Hong Kong Lenders Plot Blockchain Mortgage System Launch

A group of banks in Hong Kong are reportedly developing a system that uses blockchain tech to share information about mortgage valuations.

According to The Financial Times, the system is being tested by Bank of China and HSBC among a group of lenders in the region. If fully realized, the system will include participants from mortgage lenders in Hong Kong as well as surveyors, who will contribute valuation data.

Involved in the testing of the system are the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), which earlier this year co-established an innovation hub to support fintech experimentation. The trial is, perhaps, the most high-profile project of its kind to emerge from that effort to date.

The proposed mortgage valuation system is being tested within that framework, and according to FT will be integrated live inside the Bank of China's operations sometime next month.

The paper quoted ASTRI vice president Duncan Wong, who said of the project:

“The reason we focused on the property valuation is because there is less regulatory concern for this.”

As for the other banks looking to take part in the system, those institutions have reportedly begun preparing for an integrated at an as-yet-undisclosed date.

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