HKSTP and Hang Seng Bank Name Two Winners of “Living Lab for the Bank of the Future” Programme

(Hong Kong, 6 August 2026) - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Hang Seng Bank (Hang Seng) today announced two winners of the “Living Lab for the Bank of the Future” programme. Built around Hang Seng's real business scenarios, the programme provides tech ventures with live operating environments to test and refine solutions, while enabling Hang Seng to assess potential applications across retail and commercial banking, supporting the acceleration of the digital transformation of Hong Kong’s financial services sector.

Launched in April 2026, the programme attracted 26 tech ventures from HKSTP’s innovation and technology (I&T) ecosystem. Following an initial screening, four finalists were shortlisted to demonstrate their solutions at the programme’s Demo Day. 

After evaluation by Hang Seng’s business and technology leaders, Hong Kong Xiangtai Ruifeng Technology Limited and Pantheon Lab Limited were named the winners for solutions with strong potential for further exploration in Hang Seng’s retail banking and commercial banking, respectively.

Eric Or, Chief Ecosystem Development Officer of HKSTP, said: “The close collaboration between HKSTP and Hang Seng Bank provides park companies with valuable opportunities to bring their R&D achievements into real-world applications, while helping Hang Seng identify new business growth opportunities from an I&T perspective, creating a win-win outcome for both parties. Through this programme, we hope to promote wider adoption of AI technologies in the banking sector and advance the intelligent transformation of Hong Kong’s financial services industry.”

Forrest Chai, Chief Information Officer of Hang Seng Bank and HK, said: “AI is reshaping how customers and businesses expect to be served—faster, more personalised, and more secure. Through our collaboration with HKSTP, we are bringing innovation closer to real banking needs by testing solutions against practical scenarios and accelerating the path from prototype to scalable deployment, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core. Congratulations to Hong Kong Xiangtai Ruifeng Technology Limited and Pantheon Lab Limited; we look forward to exploring how their solutions can help us deliver simpler experiences for customers and smarter capabilities for our teams.”

First introduced in June 2022, the “Living Lab” programme brings together Hang Seng’s market insights and operational expertise with HKSTP’s I&T ecosystem and technology talent pipeline, helping innovations move from concept to real-world readiness.

Photo 3: The judging panel from Hang Seng’s business and technology leaders, together with the winner of Commercial Banking case. 
From left: Philip Chan, Head of Commercial Banking Digital of Hang Seng Bank; David Chan, Chief Information Security Officer of Hang Seng Bank and HK; Two representatives of Pantheon Lab Limited; Alex Wong, Head of Business Banking of Hang Seng Bank; Gladys Oon, Director, Partnerships and Account Management of HKSTP; Kelly Chan, Director, Business Growth and Planning, Business Banking of Hang Seng Bank; Eric Chow, Head of Digital Design and Insights of Hang Seng Bank