OneConnect announces Abu Dhabi partnership

OneConnect Financial Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company which focuses on providing financial technology solutions for small and medium-sized financial institutions, has been appointed as a technology partner by Abu Dhabi Global Market to support its digital innovations, it announced on Tuesday.

The collaboration marks a first-of-its-kind digital sandbox hosted by a financial regulator that allows financial institutions and financial technology innovators to collaborate and build the next generation of digital financial services.

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Digital Lab is a digital platform where financial institutions and financial technology firms can collaborate, test and develop innovative solutions for the financial services sector, with direct participation from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

OneConnect’s collaboration with ADGM on the Digital Lab is its first landing project in the Middle East. In July 2019, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with ADGM to jointly promote and develop financial technology innovation, ecosystems and market opportunities that will support and connect the economies in both the Belt-and Road corridor and the Middle East and North Africa region.

In recent years, digital innovation has become a focal point in Abu Dhabi's plans and initiatives in building a knowledge-based economy to support economic growth and diversification.

Through collaboration between industry and regulators, the Digital Lab aims to create a trusted marketplace for experimentation to build the enablers for the smart financial center of the future.