HONG KONG, Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In the digital age, the global financial industry is undergoing rapid transformation, and Hong Kong’s Fusion Bank has just unveiled a significant milestone in its digital infrastructure. The bank’s new-generation core banking system, launched in October last year, has achieved remarkable results: it has halved the time required for new product development and is projected to reduce non-human IT costs by 53% over the next three years. This success is the result of a collaboration with WeBank Technology Services, which provided core banking system solutions based on distributed architecture, and Tencent Cloud, which supplied the full-stack proprietary cloud platform and database solutions. The project not only sets a new benchmark for core system upgrades in Hong Kong but also offers valuable experience for Shenzhen–Hong Kong fintech cooperation.
A New Milestone in Digital Banking
Fusion Bank, a licensed digital bank in Hong Kong, initiated the project to build a new-generation core system to meet the demands of business innovation and cost efficiency. The project involved integrating and transforming over 150 subsystems across five core business areas. Within just 10 months, the upgrade was completed, with the go-live process taking only 15 hours and the migration of systems and data from various vendors to the new core system accomplished in just 6 hours.
The new system, built on a distributed architecture, incorporates key features of the digital banking solutions from WeBank Technology Services. It offers low cost, high agility, and high availability while maintaining an open nature. The upgraded system can now scale on demand according to business growth, solving the problem of high upfront investment and resource waste associated with traditional one-step solutions. Additionally, the system’s capabilities in parameterized products, modular design, process orchestration, and AI-native features have significantly enhanced the efficiency of new product launches. The compatibility with mainstream software and hardware also ensures that the bank’s operations are no longer reliant on a single supplier or technology platform, reducing the impact of supply chain disruptions.
Significant Benefits for Fusion Bank
“This upgrade is of great significance to Fusion Bank’s long-term development,” said Fusion Bank’s Alternate Chief Executive and Chief Technology Officer, Billy Chiu. “It not only supports our operations in a more cost-effective manner but also helps us build a sustainable agile innovation capability to respond more quickly to customer needs.” The new product development cycle has been shortened from six months to three months, and non-human IT costs are expected to be reduced by 53% by 2027.
Global Implications for Digital Banking Transformation
The global financial industry is currently in urgent need of updating its digital infrastructure, with many financial institutions seeking technological solutions to optimize their cost structures. The successful upgrade of Fusion Bank’s new core banking system demonstrates WeBank Technology Services’ continued effectiveness in delivering digital finance solutions in international markets. It also provides a valuable reference for banks in Hong Kong and around the world looking to upgrade their core systems and accelerate digital transformation.
WeBank Technology Services, established in June 2024 as the wholly-owned fintech arm of WeBank, is committed to providing digital finance and digital infrastructure solutions globally. Leveraging WeBank’s leading fintech capabilities, WeBank Technology Services has actively pursued opportunities in the global market, engaging with over 20 enterprises and institutions across countries such as Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, and regions including Hong Kong.
WeBank is a global leader in digital banking. Since its inception, WeBank has adopted commodity servers and open-source software to develop the world’s first core banking system based on a fully distributed architecture. The system has served over 400 million individual customers and 5 million micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs),with a peak daily transaction volume exceeding 1.4 billion. The system’s availability rate remains above 99.999%, and the annual IT O&M cost per account has been reduced to less than $0.3, one-tenth of the industry average.
About WeBank Technology Services
Launched in Hong Kong in June 2024, WeBank Technology Services sets out to leverage WeBank’s cutting-edge fintech capabilities and digital finance best practice to deliver a variety of superior digital finance and digital infrastructure solutions to digital banks, financial institutions, government agencies, and industry partners worldwide.