- DBS was named Asia’s Best Digital Bank 2025, citing S$750m in 2024 economic value from AI and scaled deployment across operations.
- Its strategy pairs AI-led personalisation and productivity gains with ecosystem rails like wallets, tokenisation and digital-asset platforms.
- WeLab Bank won Hong Kong’s Best Digital Bank for Consumers 2025 by combining distinctive retail features with early profitability and strong credit-risk discipline.
- Across Asia, digital banking is shifting from digitised channels to integrated ecosystems, embedded savings/investing and inclusion under tighter AI and digital-asset governance.
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The Euromoney piece “Asia’s Best Digital Banks: The future of retail banking” provides a thematic overview showing how digital banking in Asia has matured beyond simple digitisation toward full ecosystem play, customer experience, and financial inclusion. DBS’s win exemplifies this evolution: its platform strategy is not just about channels, but deeply integrating AI, tokenisation, and customer journey redesign.
DBS reported that in 2024 it achieved S$750 million in economic impact from AI—more than double its 2023 figure—illustrating the ROI of embedding AI/ML across operations. This includes 1,500 models across 370 use-cases, “personalised nudges” to 13 million customers, and performance gains (e.g. 20% reduction in call-handling time). These reflect not just digital ambition but scale and measurement of impact.
Other winners like WeLab Bank signal a rising competitive pressure from smaller virtual banks. WeLab has combined innovation in financial products (numberless cards, flexible time deposits, goal-based investing), early profitability (4 years vs 5–7 typical), and strong credit-risk discipline despite macro pressures. These suggest that nimble, focused players can compete on user experience and product design and erode incumbents’ advantages in some segments.
Strategic implications for incumbents and investors are diverse:
- Incumbents must accelerate platform transformations: modular tech architecture, AI/ML platforms, blockchain/tokenisation, real-time payments systems.
- Customer engagement is shifting toward proactive, personalised advisory, “nudges” and embedded finance. Banks that treat digital channels as separate risk being disrupted.
- Regulatory regimes and governance are increasingly central, especially around AI, data use, digital assets and cross-border payments. Trust, safety and compliance are no longer sidelines but competitive levers.
- Inclusive finance remains both ethical imperative and business opportunity: serving MSMEs, lower income, migrant populations, or overlooked segments is material in customer growth and reputational strength.
Open questions include:
- How can banks sustainably monetise AI-driven personalized services without over-reliance on usage data or risking customer trust?
- What is the path to scalability for virtual banks—especially in geographies with tougher regulation or weaker digital infrastructure?
- How will cross-border digital banking evolve in Asia given differing regulatory, currency, and identity regimes?
- Will the “super-app” or embedded finance model dominate, or will specialised digital banks with deep product focus retain edge?
Supporting Notes
- DBS attributed S$750 million in economic impact to its AI initiatives in 2024, more than double its previous year’s figure.
- DBS has deployed over 1,500 AI/ML models across 370 use-cases; generative AI tools used both horizontally (staff tools) and vertically (role-specific apps).
- DBS delivered 1.2 billion AI-powered personalised nudges to 13 million customers; among those who engaged, savings doubled, investment five-fold, insurance coverage nearly tripled.
- The PayLah! mobile wallet in Singapore has 41.6 million monthly logins and processes over 60% of Singapore’s hawker centre digital payments; its name entered colloquial use as a verb.
- WeLab Bank achieved profitability within four years—well ahead of the industry average of five to seven years; saw superior credit performance: improved credit metrics by 37% even while delinquency worsened 13% YoY in the market.
- WeLab’s product innovations include the first numberless debit card in Hong Kong; GoSave and GoWealth platforms offering flexible time-deposits, featured funds, goal-based investment advice.
- Trend-wise, Asia’s digital banking environment is marked by ecosystem integration, super-apps, gamification, world-beating savings and investment products, as described by Euromoney’s thematic coverage.
- WeBank, in China, serves over 400 million individual customers and more than 5 million MSMEs; uses AI, big data, blockchain; recognized for deep inclusion, scalable digital core infrastructure (cost per account, IT O&M).