New offering aims to reduce the HKD$160,000 in annual average operating costs per SME in Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 5 June 2024 - SMEs in Hong Kong spend over 2,298 hours per year on dated methods of financial management, resulting in an average annual operating cost of HK$160,000 per SME. This was the alarming figure highlighted in a study by KPay, a leading all-in-one financial and business management platform for merchants.

Conquering Financial Operations Management with KPay
The study, which captures input from over 1,000 merchants, reveals critical financial management challenges in areas such as time and cost inefficiencies tied to financial operations. Almost all SMEs in Hong Kong with 15% still reliant on paper, and 55% using basic spreadsheets for financial management.

The traditional pay-out methods used by many SMEs are highly fragmented, involving extensive manual work and high handling fees. This results in a significant loss of time that could be better utilised for business development and revenue generation. Additionally, the diverse payment landscape in Hong Kong complicates the tracking and consolidation of bills and funds received. This necessitates dedicated efforts to manage various payment platforms and maintain multiple business management systems, exacerbating operational inefficiency.

As a result, over half of the merchants surveyed expressed a need for more innovative pay-out methods. They seek alternatives to alleviate frustrations related to fulfilment issues caused by manual input errors (46%), time-consuming expense management processes (33%), and difficulties in managing and storing invoices (31%).

Hong Kong's First Unified Pay-in and Pay-out Platform for SMEs

The platform aims to address operational pain points for SMEs by providing a streamlined, one-stop solution for payment collection – from pay-ins to pay-outs, bill management, reconciliation, T+0 settlement and financial data analysis – all within a single user-friendly app that can reduce manual errors up to by 90%.

In addition to integrating these features into a single app, the new platform also offers international transfers with faster settlements through an infrastructure powered by Airwallex. This allows SMEs to manage bills directly and efficiently, facilitating smoother and more efficient pay-ins and pay-outs. Access to these facilities can be set up within 48 hours.

KPay Emerges as First Open Banking Partner Enabled by DBS SME Banking Hong Kong
KPay's "Connect to Bank" function allows merchants to manage business performance anytime, anywhere. With a mission to address these challenges and unleash the growth potential of businesses through simple and smart technology, KPay has launched Hong Kong's first unified pay-in-pay-out platform for SMEs. This platform leverages the market-leading API solutions from DBS Hong Kong, which sets to address operational pain points for SMEs.

"We are thrilled to support this initiative with our market-leading API solutions, marking DBS SME Banking Hong Kong's first open banking collaboration with a local partner. This underscores our commitment to enhancing SME business experiences with partners like KPay. Dedicated to providing seamless digital banking services, DBS has supported hundreds of KPay merchants in Hong Kong with tailored banking privileges. We are confident this number will grow as we introduce a low-carbon SME package to support sustainable practices," said Jolynn Wong, Managing Director and Head of SME Banking, DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited.

Celebrating KPay's Third Anniversary

This collaboration represents a key milestone in KPay's rapid ascent in the fintech sector. Since its inauguration three years ago, KPay has become a leading fintech player that is trusted by more than 33,000 merchants, with operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. The company aims to grow its merchants tenfold within the next three years.

Speaking at KPay's third anniversary, Davis Chan, Co-Founder and CEO of KPay said, "At KPay, we are a driving force behind business growth of our merchants. As we celebrate our third anniversary, we're setting our sights on transforming the payment sector and catalysing growth over the next three years. We take great pride in being the leading non-bank payment facilitator in Hong Kong with the largest market share of merchants as of this year, as well as now launching the market's first unified pay-in and pay-out platform."

KPay celebrated its anniversary milestone with merchant partners, ranging from food & beverage heroes Châteraisé and Yat Lok Restaurants, to retails brands such as Little Prince Art and Hotstone Yanpan Yoga among many well-known merchants. The celebration was also joined by KPay's key finance and banking partners including DBS, American Express and PayMe by HSBC.

Desmond Leung, Vice President and General Manager of Global Merchant and Network Services, Greater China, American Express said, "We are delighted to collaborate with a vibrant start-up company like KPay, and firmly believe that our partnership will yield unique synergies. By joining hands with KPay, we look forward to enabling both local and visiting American Express Cardmembers to spend at more merchants across Hong Kong, thereby bringing more new business opportunities to the local retail industry."

Further commenting on KPay's business growth, Davis noted, "This is just the beginning of our KPay journey. Our commitment is to revolutionise how businesses manage their operations and finances, and we're excited about the prospect of many more years of innovation and shared success ahead with our expanding merchant base across Asia. We strive to continue to be the business platform of choice for merchants to thrive effortlessly."