The Mobile Banking Benchmark 2021 survey found that Hong Kong’s virtual banks Mox and Livi stood out as regional leaders, though overall a gap between Asian and European players remains.

The survey was conducted by management consulting firm Sia Partners which assessed 135 banks across 17 countries to understand the present state of mobile banking globally, including 16 banks from Hong Kong and six from Singapore.

In Hong Kong, Mox Bank, Livi Bank and Hang Seng Bank take the top three places for mobile banking services.

Overall for Asia, Sia Partners allocates top ten spots to seven Hong Kong banks and three Singapore banks.

The survey also highlights how the arrival of virtual banking will jumpstart change in the Asian retail financial services market.

Increased innovation is likely to continue as regional followers seek to improve their offering rather than risk being left behind by new entrants and the more digitally focused incumbents.

Reflecting this pattern, four virtual banks namely Mox Bank, Livi Bank, WeLab Bank, and ZA Bank as well as three traditional banks Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, and Bank of China led the Hong Kong digital banking market, with each mobile app having relatively comparable characteristics.

Sia Partners said that it expects this to change over the next year, however, as competitive rivalry makes mobile apps the next battlefield for bank market share in Hong Kong.

Etienne Ranwez, Manager at Sia Partners said,

“A crowded market and nascent digital developments are exposing opportunities amidst continued disruption to Hong Kong’s mobile banking sector.

 

But for Hong Kong’s banks to close the gap with their European peers, they need to offer services in their apps beyond basic banking and improve the user experience.”