First property-purchase blockchain platform established in Hong Kong
New World Development Company Limited (NWD), a leading conglomerate in Hong Kong, has announced the establishment of Hong Kong’s first property-purchase blockchain platform, in collaboration with Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) in February 2019. Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) will be the first bank to participate and apply the blockchain platform to its list of services.
Blockchain technology allows the platform to provide a comprehensive support service to buyers, banks and any related parties. With the adoption of Property Technology in the real estate sector, Hong Kong’s real estate industry will be positively disrupted and reshaped.
Buyers will get to enjoy a fast, reliable and convenient user experience in the new era of Property-Purchase 2.0, coming in the second quarter of 2019.
Mr. Adrian Cheng, Executive Vice-Chairman and General Manager of NWD, said, “In the past 30 years, the real estate market has very rarely seen high technology introduced into the purchasing process. Traditionally, buyers, real estate developers, banks and law firms all work separately – until now, there has been no one-stop platform to connect all parties.”
The new PropTech platform’s greatest advantage is to open and change the entire real estate industry; it also marks the first foray of blockchain technology into the real estate landscape in Hong Kong.
“BOCHK is committed to supporting and driving the development of financial technology in order to provide convenient services for the general public. NWD collaboration with ASTRI in introducing the first property blockchain platform will help enhance customer experience by offering a seamless integration of mortgage services in our customers’ property purchase journey,” said Mrs. Ann Kung, Deputy Chief Executive of BOCHK.
Integrating blockchain technology into the property-buying platform allows a reduction of the time and work between signing the provisional agreement and closing the deal. All parties will be able to reap the benefits of the one-stop platform as the service providers will save around 47 hours of work and 8 hours could be cut down from the transaction time.
The integration of all the time-consuming intermediary steps: filling-in complex application documents, the back-and-forth between banks and lawyers, and the time taken to research mortgage loans will cut down about 8 hours of transaction time.
Overall, the entire real estate industry will save around 55 hours in total on use of this technology.
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