Digital banks in Asia Pacific witnessed improving overall profitability in FY2019. Although some digital banks’ net profit in FY2020 has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, their growth outlook remains optimistic.

These are the leading countries where new payment options are creating new opportunities and disrupting the incumbents

Digital-only banks pose serious challenges to the traditional financial services industry with their entirely new banking experience. However, for most of them, licensing, scale and profitability are the three key issues they must face going forward.

WeBank of China, Ally Bank in the US, and the retail arm of ING Group, topped The Asian Banker's the inaugural global ranking of leading digital banks.

Mobile-based payment platform OPay has grown exponentially since its launch in 2018, penetrating the unbanked and underbanked population in Nigeria. It allows users to send and receive money, pay bills, and order food and groceries, with a network of thousands of agents.

The global financial industry has evolved as a result of the widespread digital transformation of traditional banks and the entrance of new digital banks. In the Middle East, the legal framework is slowly developing, which will open up the market to more digital banks.

A year after Hong Kong issued eight digital banking licences, Mox and ZA Bank have emerged as the early leaders. Together with WeLab, the three banks account for 86% of all virtual banking deposit in Hong Kong.

The inaugural BankQuality™ Consumer Survey and Rankings interviewed 11,000 bank customers in 11 markets across the Asia Pacific region on their engagement, experience and satisfaction with their main retail banks.

While many financial institutions in emerging markets are trying to strike the right balance between their physical footprints and digital presence, leading banks in mature markets are proving that digital transformation can boost profitability and efficiency.

Banks are integrating new technologies into their core businesses to improve their digital banking presence and speed-to-deliver

Growing transaction volumes are pushing Indian banks to rethink technology architecture to integrate cloud and data capabilities to meet growing transaction volumes. Indian fintechs and digital players see consumer growth, but also increased expectations and competition.

Consumers in India rated ICICI as the Most Recommended Retail Bank in the 2023 BankQuality™ Survey with a score of 69%, while Paytm scored 64% and rated as the Most Recommended Digital-Only Bank

Taiwanese consumers voted E.Sun Bank as the Most Recommended Retail Bank, giving it a 13% BankQuality™ Score. CTBC Bank emerged as the Most Selected Main Bank, securing 20% of the bankable population for primary relationships

Hong Kong consumers voted Citibank as the Most Recommended Retail Bank with a BankQuality™ Score of 19%, Airstar Bank as the Most Recommended Digital-Only Bank with 12%, and Octopus as the Most Recommended Platform with 14%.

According to a TABInsights survey on technology investment, FI in APAC prioritise data management, advanced analytics and digital banking capabilities

Malaysian consumers voted Maybank as the Most Recommended Retail Bank, while Touch ’n Go emerged as the Most Recommended Platform in the latest BQS™

Philippine digital banks saw rapid growth in 2023 alongside mounting concerns over credit quality as gross NPL ratios soared

A prominent player in Southeast Asia’s digital finance sector, the group saw significant growth in 2023, cutting losses by 29% despite a challenging economic environment

The top 10 digital banks saw revenue grow from $41 billion in 2022 to about $49 billion in 2023