Breaking down barriers to instant identity checks

Here’s how a Hong Kong-based start-up is rewriting how financial institutions onboard customers, proving that digital identification can know no bounds in speed, credibility and borders.

Fintech start-up Fill Easy and insurer Prudential Hong Kong have unveiled a breakthrough in electronic know your customer (e-KYC) verification, promising to cut cross-border onboarding from weeks to minutes.

The collaboration forms part of Hong Kong’s effort to build secure, GBA-ready infrastructure under the Fintech 2030 DART strategy.

“Our goal is simple – remove friction from trust,” said Matthew Lee, co-founder and CEO of Fill Easy. “When someone opens an account or applies for insurance, the identity check should be secure and instant, whether they’re in Hong Kong or not.”

Fill Easy’s platform aggregates verified data from multiple government and financial sources, including company registries, bankruptcy and criminal records, as well as digital ID databases.

Through API integrations, it cross-checks information, flags anomalies and generates a fully auditable KYC report in real time.

“Traditional KYC relies on methods that have to account for risks coming from deepfakes or other AI threats,” Lee explained. “The way forward would be relying on authoritative and somewhat centralised source of data.”

Onboarding time fell from an average of two weeks to less than 10 minutes during pilot tests with Prudential, the improvement came without relaxing regulatory standards—every verification record is timestamped and stored for audit review.

“Speed matters, but trust matters more,” Lee said. “Our technology satisfies both.”

KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) processes often break down at borders, where differences in legal frameworks and data sovereignty prevent information exchange.

Fill Easy tackles this through a propriety IT infrastructure, designed by data specialists and financial regulators, ones that speak the language, with a singular focus on the transfer of data, ensure that it’s validated and secured.

For Prudential, the solution enables seamless onboarding for clients who live or work across the Greater Bay Area.

Financial advisors can now verify identity, residence and creditworthiness using Fill Easy’s dashboard, eliminating repetitive paperwork and improving customer experience.

Fill Easy shared at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025 that they developed its platform with help from Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), where it accessed mentorship, regulatory guidance and testing infrastructure.

“It was instrumental for us to understand compliance from both sides, tech and legal, and to be introduced to partners like Prudential.”

HKSTP also connected the start-up to sandbox programmes run by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Insurance Authority, enabling Fill Easy to prove that its system meets international security standards.

The company is finalising ISO 27001 certification for information security management, a requirement for enterprise-grade deployment. Lee said: “Achieving ISO 27001 shows that we operate at bank level. It’s our passport to expand globally.”

“And when verification is instant, advisors can focus on advising,” Lee said. “That’s how we bring humanity back to digital finance.”

At the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025, HKSTP facilitated approximately 150 business matchings and showcased 20 of its park companies.

“Hong Kong’s role as a magnet for international capital and tech is built on passion and perseverance,” said Eric Or, Chief Ecosystem Development Officer at HKSTP. “We are committed to connecting innovation with every investment opportunity.”