ITF, a fintech bank that U.S. investor Jim Rogers has invested in, will set up its headquarters in Hong Kong and aims to start operating next year. The venture will also focus on Singapore to tap the Southeast Asian market. ITF has applied for licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore.

ITF was set upLim Hui Jie, the former CEO of the Australia's Digimatic Group. Rogers, the Singapore-based co-founder of Quantum Group of Funds, and George Lam, the chairman of Cyberport Management Hong Kong, are among investors in the bank.

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The Future of Banking

The new bank will provide online and mobile banking and financial services and aims to work with fintech companies in Hong Kong to develop products and services in banking, wealth management and other financial services.

Rogers invested in ITF because fintech will be the future of banking, he told the «South China Morning Post». «The traditional banking branch will disappear. Physical cash will disappear. If you go to China, everybody uses their mobile phone to pay. The rest of the world will follow the same trend,» the investment guru added.

Boost to Hong Kong

ITF reached an agreement in August to acquire 70 percent of the economic rights of an international bank in Vanuatu, which is still subject to regulatory approval. It has also established correspondent banking relationships with Bank of Communications Shanghai and Bank of Communications Hong Kong.

The move is a boost to the Hong Kong monetary authority who recently announced seven initiatives it said would open up a new era of smart banking in the city.