Raymond So

General Manager, ZKTeco Hong Kong

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As artificial intelligence and further technologies keep getting the attention of the audience, biometrics have arisen as an innovative solution for data and security matters. ZTKeco is a leading global provider of security and time management solutions based on biometric and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technologies. In 2021, it was ranked 13 on the Top 50 Global Security Brands by A&S Magazine.

For the first Legal Industry Reviews, China and Hong Kong edition, we had the opportunity to talk with Raymond So, General Manager at ZKTeco Hong Kong, and Head of Marketing at ZKTeco’s headquarters.

Could you tell us ZKTeco’s story? How did it start, and which are the main milestones until its international consolidation?

This is a long story to tell. ZKTeco was founded as a biometric-oriented company, which was established two decades ago. It started with fingerprint recognition systems developed independently by our founding team.

We were rooted in biometric technology, and, in time, we applied this to different applications, such as time and attendance, access control, intelligent devices, etc. Finally, we succeed to promote Biometric technology all over the world with over 100 million active users daily and helped numerous cooperations to improve their operational efficiency and management accuracy.

What are the main challenges for ZKTeco in the current global context?

Yes, being a global company, cultural difference is always the toughest challenge; we need to adapt those differences and synergy all ZKers strength to get the best outcome. Moreover, being a Chinese company is becoming more and more sensitive recently, especially in the security and access control industry, but we have tried very hard to prove ourselves that we are just a company trying so hard to survive in this industry; we have upgraded all the cybersecurity measures in our system to reach the highest standard in the industry, and we have gained our partner’s trust by embracing and respecting their cultures.

In the global context, frankly speaking, ZKTeco has become the market leader in the SMB market for years in most of ZKTeco’s sales regions, especially in Asia, the Middle East, and the South American market. However, we are still exploring the premium market, and we have launched a new brand, “Armatura”, that is dedicated to penetrating the upper market; the whole system is secured with the highest cybersecurity level by using AES, TLS, EAL, RSA, encryption standard, and the physical security standard has reached up to IK10, IP68,UL294-V0, moreover, mobile credential, multi-tech RFID and biometric technology are the other highlights of the system, by offering multiple authentication options.

Also, with continual expansion of company’s internationalization, the overseas revenue grows and took up bigger percentage of the company’s main business revenue, the main challenges are:

1. The global economy is facing changes in trade policies of major economies, the rise of international trade protectionism, the deterioration of the local economic environment, and the tense situation of geopolitical, global trade policy is showing strong uncertainty.

2. Currency fluctuation: the devaluation of the currencies of mainstream countries and the foreign exchange controls of countries with weak industrial capabilities will lead to customers’ longer repayment times and increasing repayment risks.

3. Though the company has set up dozes of subsidiaries overseas, the global market capacity is very large, and our service capabilities need to be further strengthened, the company is also stepping up the establishment of a wider sales and service networking.

4. Although the company has carried out online and offline brand promotion activities, there are still insufficient experience stores, and the company is also accelerating the construction of offline smart experience stores.

ZKTeco has been a pioneer in developing and implementing biometrics in a time when it was a strange thing to the general public. Today things have changed, and biometrics has turned into a basic need in terms of security. Do you think there is space to keep innovating in this field? Could you tell us how?

Of course, actually, we are now in a technological booming era, and because of those new technologies, biometric technology keeps evolving; in the past decade, we have witnessed facial recognition evolve from near-infrared technology to visible light facial recognition as well as other biometrics.

“Touch-less Biometric” will soon become the mainstream of biometrics technology, especially in the post-pandemic era; people now are paying more attention to hygiene, and facial recognition has already been the mainstream in recent years; however, the privacy issue has slowed its expansion pace and limited its application scenarios. Touch-less “Palm Recognition” is now becoming a new trend; as its “proactive recognition” characteristic, people can refuse to be recognised by simply holding its hand, and its user-friendliness, the recognition speed can be as fast as 0.35 seconds, and the recognition angle tolerance can be up to 60 degrees.

ZKTeco is a global company with operations in tens of countries all over the world. How do you do it to fulfil the legal requirements of each of them?

First, we have our legal department in our headquarters in Hong Kong, then, there are more than 40 branches of ZKTeco all over the world. Every country is supported by close legal partners, working with every branch office.

Each country has its own regulations and policies, ZKTeco fully respects and puts compliance operations in the first place. Our subsidiaries operate under the support of not only local teams which also include external consulting agencies like accounting and legal firms etc., but also the guidance and surveillance from different professional teams of ZKTeco HQ. In addition, in some areas, we arrange for the people to attend the corresponding forums, and webinars held locally, and consult with local authorities, to keep ourselves updated and try our best to do the compliance.

The Covid pandemic is just finishing, and, among a lot of other things, it interrupted the logistic and transport chains on a global scale. How has all of this affected your company? Have you been able to resume the operative levels you used to have before the pandemic?

Honestly, we overcame those problems in early 2021 by re-structuring all our system components. We have a good reputation in the industry with our loyalty and financial stability, our partners tried their best to fulfill their parts to us in time, even in the most difficult time.

What are ZKTeco’s next steps for the future?

“Integration”, the whole industry is paying more attention to integration across systems, and getting more solution partners will be our next step.