HK’s digital banks launched to much fanfare, but results have been lackluster.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, digital banks have sprung up at a rapid rate in recent years. Regulators have ostensibly encouraged the establishment of online-only banks to spur greater competition in the banking sector, which in most markets is dominated by incumbent lenders afflicted with complacency of varying severity.
In theory, the digital banking boom should introduce a large crop of startups to the market that would offer customers a significantly improved user experience. Alas, it was not meant to be in APAC.
In almost every…