TLDR: PAObank and OneConnect Financial Technology have joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) second Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox. Their collaboration focuses on deploying an ‘Anti-Fraud Strategy Platform’ that utilizes advanced AI, including cutting-edge facial recognition, to detect and prevent deepfake fraud in real-time, aiming to enhance customer protection and strengthen risk management within the banking sector.
HONG KONG – PAO Bank Limited (PAObank), a digital bank and member of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd., has announced its participation in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) second Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox. This initiative sees PAObank partnering with OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd., an associate of Ping An, to develop and refine an ‘Anti-Fraud Strategy Platform’ specifically designed to combat the growing threat of deepfake fraud in the financial industry.
The joint platform, developed in collaboration with Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, leverages advanced AI technologies to enhance the detection of deepfake fraud, bolster risk management protocols, sharpen fraud investigations, and ultimately improve customer protection. Within the controlled environment of the GenA.I. Sandbox, PAObank and OneConnect will rigorously test and refine the platform’s capabilities.
A core component of this innovative solution is its cutting-edge AI-powered facial recognition system. This technology is engineered to verify user selfies in real-time, meticulously identifying faces that are forged or synthetically generated. This real-time verification is crucial for detecting and preventing fraudulent activities, thereby significantly strengthening the bank’s defenses and internal risk controls.
Mr. Haibin Lin, Chief Technology Officer of PAObank, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: “We are proud to join the second cohort of HKMA’s GenA.I. Sandbox, working closely with industry peers and regulators to responsibly explore the potential of GenA.I.. Thanks to the innovative technological solutions provided by Ping An Group and OneConnect, PAObank has advanced its AI applications, enhancing operational efficiency and productivity. The experience we gain from this initiative will strengthen the industry’s ability to combat deepfake fraud and we are committed to sharing our findings to support wider adoption of GenA.I. technologies across banking industry.”
Ping An Group, the parent company of PAObank and OneConnect, has a long-standing commitment to AI research and development. The group serves approximately 247 million individual customers and over 4 million corporate clients, leveraging vast data resources—including over 3.2 trillion textual data points, 310,000 hours of annotated audio data, and more than 7.5 billion images by June 2025—to drive its AI initiatives. In the first half of 2025 alone, Ping An deployed large AI models in over 650 business scenarios, recording 818 million usage calls and achieving significant improvements in service efficiency, cost reduction, risk mitigation, and intelligent sales. Notable achievements include underwriting 94% of life insurance policies within seconds, AI-assisted customer service handling 80% of inquiries, RMB 6.44 billion saved in property insurance through fraud prevention, and RMB 66.157 billion generated via AI-powered sales.
OneConnect’s anti-fraud solution, acting as Ping An’s exclusive FinTech export platform, integrates more than 25 digital modules. These modules encompass facial recognition, NFC multi-country document verification, deepfake detection, and device risk assessment. The platform has demonstrated remarkable efficacy, particularly in the ‘Anti-Deepfake’ category, with a reported 99% success rate in defending against deepfake threats. By mid-2025, OneConnect had extended its services to 214 enterprises across 21 countries and regions, becoming a trusted eKYC and anti-fraud partner for over half of Hong Kong’s traditional retail banks.
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This collaboration underscores the financial industry’s proactive approach to leveraging advanced AI to counter sophisticated cyber threats and ensure a secure banking environment for customers.
