A client portal gives a family office, broker or professional firm a place to share documents and record approvals. I scope and build the app, documenting its data flows and access controls for your supplier or audit review.
Where an app fits
InvestHK highlights sectors including financial services, fintech, professional services, family offices, transport and logistics. The apps that follow from those are rarely consumer products. They are tools for a defined group of users, where access control matters more than downloads:
- a client portal for a family office: statements, documents and approvals, with every access logged
- a KYC and onboarding app for a professional services firm, so identity documents arrive once and not as email attachments
- a proof-of-delivery app for a logistics operator that keeps working without signal and syncs later
If a project like this was started elsewhere and has stalled, the starting point is an App Check of what exists, then a rescue from $27,800 if it is worth saving.
The PDPO and data that leaves Hong Kong
Personal data in Hong Kong is governed by the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486, and supervised by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. Section 33, the provision meant to restrict transfers out of Hong Kong, is not yet in operation. The PCPD nonetheless recommends contractual protection for such transfers and has published Recommended Model Contractual Clauses for the purpose.
Project data is likely to be stored outside Hong Kong, so those clauses are worth using. They can sit in the data processing agreement. The hosting region is agreed before the build and named in the contract, so your clients get a straight answer when they ask where their records are kept.
Selling to banks
Banks in Hong Kong are supervised by the HKMA, whose Supervisory Policy Manual has a module on outsourcing, SA-2. If your product is sold to banks, it is worth reading before their supplier review starts. When the questionnaire does arrive, the vendor security review page explains how the answers are prepared and what stays your decision.
Price, currency and tax
A First Version (MVP) starts at $27,800 and takes two to four weeks; a market-ready app starts at $83,300. The Hong Kong dollar is held within the Linked Exchange Rate System at 7.75 to 7.85 per US dollar. The linked exchange rate limits currency fluctuations, although your bank's conversion rate and fees determine the final Hong Kong dollar cost. All prices are net; the tax treatment is clarified before contract and stated in the offer.
With or without an IT department
Where nobody in the firm is technical, you get one contact who writes the scope in plain language, builds the app and explains every decision in writing. Where an IT team already exists, the work slots in beside it: a single app against your existing systems, an architecture review before a larger investment, or the documentation a client's due diligence asks for.
For example, I can build a client portal against your existing document API while your IT team reviews the integration and approves releases in your repository.