Futu Securities Joins Hands with Tencent Cloud and Hong Kong Telecom to Build Hong Kong's First Financial Services Cloud

Futu Securities, Tencent Cloud, and Hong Kong Telecom held a joint press conference in Hong Kong on Aug. 10, 2018, announcing the first financial services cloud jointly created by the three parties.

It is said that the financial services cloud considers the special characteristics of the securities industry and has a large number of virtual machines that are five to eight times the number of physical machines. The cloud has great capacity for storing, processing, exploring, and analyzing big data. Such capacity will not only tremendously increase the storage capacity of data, but also improves the system security.

It is well known that Mr. Hua Li, the founder of Futu, used to work at Tencent and has made Futu more like an IT company because of the 'Tencent genes.' Some investors claim that Futu has become one of the best investments of Tencent (HKEX: 0700). Now, Tencent Cloud is working together with Futu and will definitely make its 'Tencent gene' stronger.

'Battle over the Cloud' - The Track that Every Financial Services Technology Company Fights For

For the brokerage platforms, the concentrated operation of investors during peak hours puts pressure on their trading services and systems. Therefore, unlike what are required by other industries, the financial industry has extremely high requirements for security, stability, and scalability. It is considered to be the most-stringent cloud computing segment.

As an internet broker, Futu needs to work with exchanges and market providers. In addition, it needs to manage sensitive data. Therefore, relying solely on a public cloud is not enough. Futu needs a safer and better financial services cloud.

At present, almost every brokerage firm has raised its financial technology to an unparalleled level, and the digital transformation of the securities industry is accelerating. Recently, Guotai Jun An Securities and Tencent officially signed a financial technology strategic cooperation agreement, which will actively explore cloud-based financial technology to enhance business operations and innovation efficiency, and provide investors with a systematic and high-quality intelligent financial services experience.

In fact, Futu has been committed to becoming a pioneer in financial technology since its establishment.

For example, Futu created a safe, accurate, stable, and fast trading environment for investors by leveraging the capabilities of cloud computing technologies, such as cross-border private line, load balancing, cloud hosting, cloud monitoring, and cloud security provided by Tencent Cloud Financial Services.

In the bullish Hong Kong stock market in April 2015, Futu Securities was the only internet broker that withstood the challenges brought by the trading peak. As founder Hua Li said, one important goal for Futu has been to create a secure and credible internet securities service.

By working together with Tencent and Hong Kong Telecom, Futu will benefit from the more advanced technologies of the Tencent Cloud Platform and the network technology and facilities of Hong Kong Telecom, as well as the financial exclusive cloud jointly established by the three parties to make Futu's underlying system more secure and scalable. Also, Futu will be able to flexibly accommodate the challenges brought by business growth. By doing this, it will build a stronger IT system security protection and better guard the security of each user's information assets.

It is worth mentioning that since its launch in 2017, Futu has launched a 'one-click for new stocks.' I believe that many new investors who are keen on Hong Kong stocks will value a lot of Futu's such innovative service.

For instance, during Xiaomi's new share subscription process, subscriptions from Futu accounted for one-fifth of the world's total, and the subscription amount accounted for 13% of the global proportion. Also, during Meituan's new share subscripton process, subscriptions from Futu accounted for 33% of the global volume, and the subscription volume reached 500 million. In addition, for Huaxing Capital and Tongcheng Yilong's IPOs, subscriptions from Futu accounted for 20% and 25% of the global share respectively.

All of the above achievements cannot be obtained without the hard work and progress made by Futu in science and technology as well as its services.

When asked about the proportion of R&D input, Hua Li said that the absolute amount of Futu's investment in R&D has been increasing every year, but the proportion is decreasing. In addition, Futu is currently profitable with steady financing channels. It has been deepening its partnerships with banks and is gaining more and more credit support.

Futu Continues to Progress in Internet Brokerage with Assistance from Tencent Cloud

If Weizhong Bank is the starting point for Tencent Cloud in the financial industry, then the first financial services cloud created by Futu, Tencent Cloud, and Hong Kong Telecom is Tencent's model project for its financial technology and financial services. This benchmarking project in innovation practice is also a milestone in deepening the cooperation between Tencent Cloud and Futu.

Regarding the cooperation, Qiu Yuepeng, the vice president of Tencent and the president of Tencent Cloud, said, 'Tencent is the witness and a partner of Futu's rapid development. Tencent Cloud's capabilities in cloud computing infrastructure and Futu's securities business are highly complementary. We will work together to build a safe, stable, fast, and easy-to-use investment experience for investors. In the future, Tencent Cloud will continue to serve as a technical assistant to Futu and contribute to Futu's business in the cloud.'

According to industry insiders, the current financial cloud industry in China has been dominated by internet organizations (Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud), traditional IT service providers (IBM, Hewlett-Packard, etc.), and bank subsidiaries (Xingye Jijin, Zhaoyin Yunchuang, Ping An Finance, etc). Compared with the triumph of the internet giants, the bank subsidiaries that have emerged in the past three years are currently unable to beat the internet companies in terms of market influence and customer coverage.

Based on such an industrial landscape, internet giants, such as Tencent and Ali, have been fighting for the market of cloud computing.

It is learned that Tencent Cloud has served more than 6,000 financial customers, including more than 150 banks, 40 insurance companies, 20 securities companies, and thousands of internet finance companies. Among them, its partners in the banking sector are Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, Hua Xia Bank, etc. In addition, it cooperted with Guotai Junan, another partner in the securities sector.

Hong Kong Telecom has been Hong Kong's leading telecommunications service provider and a leading provider of fixed-line, broadband, and mobile communication services. Therefore, its superior network services will provide an ultra-low latency trading environment for the Mainland and Hong Kong. Benefiting from the partnership with Hong Kong Telecom, Futu will be able to bring a more convenient and satisfactory online trading experience to its users.

As Mr. Jixin Chen, the Managing Director of Hong Kong Telecom's Commercial Clients Business, said, 'Hong Kong Telecom's HKT Sky Exchange can provide a complete financial ecosystem for Futu, and integrate multiple securities firms, trading software suppliers, market providers, and even major mainland exchanges. By cooperating with Hong Kong Telecom, Futu will be able to provide its users with real-time financial market data.'

In the future, Futu Securities financial services cloud will support its self-developed software platforms to provide users with a faster, safer, and more stable financial service experience. It will take the lead in this era and bring better services to hundreds of millions of users.