I also believe that it will continue to serve Hong Kong well in the years to come. BIS Review 53/1999  8
The deployment of strong authentication procedures adds greater operational complexity to the classical means of interaction with customers and here, once again, given that the situation may entail a certain level of initial confusion, it would be advisable to develop educational and assistance programmes that help accommodate users to the new reality. Bank customers and financial education I cannot stress this point enough. Financial and digital literacy are basic, crucial factors for the efficient use of financial technology and for lessening the level of risk implicit in its use. Involuntary authorisation for access to personal information or fraud, to which I have just referred, are merely some of the examples of this implicit risk. Other examples are: (i) the offering of complex, opaque projects that are difficult to understand and which may be wrapped up in a user-friendly fashion for the public at large through applications (apps or similar); (ii) the disclosure of relevant information, pre-contractual or contractual alike, through smart phones or tablets, in which the size of the screen and the immediacy of acceptance limit customers’ capacity to know what they are really agreeing to; (iii) limitations in obtaining direct and personalised advice from a qualified adviser; (iv) discrimination linked to the use of macro-data, in the sense that the use and knowledge of personal data by 6/8  services providers might result in discriminatory practices against specific groups of consumers, normally those who are most vulnerable; and (v) the risk of financial exclusion linked to the lack of digital skills.