Digital banks in Hong Kong are no longer the curious newcomers they were back in 2020. Five years on, they’ve proven their ability to build sizeable customer bases, move millions, and expand into lending, wealth management, and digital assets.

Yet for all the progress, the players still face their toughest milestone yet: profitability.

According to the Hong Kong Fintech Report for 2025, while banks like livi bank and Mox have managed to narrow the gap between net interest income and losses, none turned a profit as of FY2024.

Sustainable profitability remains a box to be ticked.

Source: Hong Kong Fintech Report 2025

And the stakes in the pool are only getting higher. Globally, the digital banking market is projected to reach US$15.4 trillion by 2032, according to SEON.

The real question now is this: which levers will Hong Kong’s digital banks pull to finally cross the profitability mark?

WeLab Bank

A couple of months ago, WeLab shared that it hit profitability in Q12025, without taking into account tax and share-based compensation expenses. The digital bank’s milestone announcement said that it is on track to secure its full-year profitability target.

In an interview with Fintech News, WeLab’s Founder and Group CEO, Simon Loong, shared that the relentless pursuit of a viable business model has been WeLab’s cornerstone of building a profitable digital bank.

The group has anchored its strategy on online lending and digital wealth management, products with clear and sustainable revenue streams.

WeLab Bank CEO Tat Lee also divulged that the bank plans to broaden its offerings with new products and business banking services, while also investing in AI-driven agents to deliver more tailored investment and lending solutions.

ZA Bank

ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s first digital bank, has been active in 2025 with a string of strategic initiatives. Most recently, it announced its collaboration with BNY, a global financial services company.

ZA Bank intends to tap into the latter’s USD clearing capabilities, extensive account network, and cross-border infrastructure to deliver seamless and secure international payment solutions to its customers.

The bank has also integrated Click to Pay with Visa as a standard card feature, offering customers a faster and more secure online checkout experience. The tokenised solution, powered by Visa Token Service, replaces sensitive card details such as 16-digit Primary Account Numbers with tokens, adding multiple layers of security.

Beyond product enhancements, ZA Bank’s parent company, ZA Global, led a US$40 million Series A2 financing round for RD Technologies. Alongside the funding, ZA Bank signed an MoU with RD Technologies, covering custodial infrastructure and a distribution partnership.

Leadership changes have also been part of its 2025 story, with Calvin Ng appointed as the bank’s new CEO in March.

These developments show that ZA Bank’s strategy is three-pronged. It consists of strengthening the bank’s cross-border capabilities, deepening its ecosystem partnerships, and upgrading customer-facing offerings.

Ant Bank

Ant Bank secured a US$100 million capital injection from its parent company, Ant International, in April 2025. The funds will be channelled into strengthening its services and product innovation, expanding partner collaborations, and delivering more personalised and flexible financial solutions to customers.

Leveraging Ant International’s technological strengths, the bank has rolled out a suite of inclusive financial services, including low-interest personal revolving loans and affordable fund investment products starting from just HK$1.

Additionally, Ant Bank announced a strategic partnership with AXA Hong Kong and Macau and AlipayHK to introduce embedded insurance offerings powered by advanced technology. The partnership combines AXA’s expertise and extensive portfolio with Ant Bank and AlipayHK’s “E-wallet X Digital Bank” model to create a seamless insurance experience.

Taken together, these moves point towards a strategy centred on financial inclusion and ecosystem partnerships.

Mox Bank

This year, Mox Bank rolled out its first general insurance product, Personal Accident Cushion, offering three plan options tailored to different customer needs starting from HK$20 monthly. Underwritten by QBE, the plan provides coverage for accidental death or permanent disablement, with double indemnity for incidents that occur while travelling as a fare-paying passenger on public transport.

Looking ahead, Mox plans to broaden its insurance offerings to compete more directly with traditional insurers. At the same time, the bank is working to strengthen its wealth management services, refine its lending products, and introduce new digital features designed to elevate the overall customer experience.

Mox’s CEO Barbaros Uygun also recently highlighted a central theme shaping its digital banking landscape: customer empowerment. He noted that empowerment represents a new model for banking, one where banks and customers work together to create solutions that genuinely make a difference.

PAOBank

PAOBank started the year strong by launching its Cross-Border E-Commerce Revolving Loan in January, intending to empower SMEs to scale their e-commerce business presence.

Developed in collaboration with Mybooster, a partner of Amazon’s Seller Lending Programme, the facility gives local SMEs greater flexibility and convenience in accessing financing, using commercial data to streamline credit assessments.

PAOBank also secured a license from the Insurance Authority and entered strategic partnerships with both FWD and China Ping An Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Limited, setting the stage for an accelerated push into insurance product offerings.

At the leadership level, the bank appointed Ronald Iu, formerly of ZA Bank, to head its management team. Under his direction, PAOBank is looking to leverage advanced financial technology while deepening its footprint in SME and retail banking.

It seems that PAOBank’s strategy for 2025 is centred on strengthening its SME financing capabilities, expanding into insurance through new licenses and partnerships, and leveraging fresh leadership to drive technology-led growth.

livi bank

According to its press release, livi bank has been sharpening its focus on SME innovation, offering solutions such as the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme to address a wide range of business needs.

Beyond lending, the bank is also playing an active role in shaping Hong Kong’s fintech landscape, joining the first cohort of the GenAI Sandbox in collaboration with the HKMA and Cyberport.

Looking ahead to 2025, livi bank plans to build on this momentum by strengthening its lending and insurance services, while broadening its fintech offerings.

Fusion Bank

Fusion Bank started off the first quarter of 2025 strong, with the completion of its core banking system migration with Tencent Cloud. According to Billy Chiu, the Alternative Chief Executive and Chief Technology Officer of Fusion Bank, the upgrade is expected to deliver a 53% reduction in non-labour IT costs compared to 2024.

The new core system is also set to enhance agility, allowing Fusion Bank to react faster to market shifts and speed up the rollout of new products.aIR

In parallel, the bank also signed a commercial cooperation agreement with WeBank Technology Services, a subsidiary of China’s WeBank, giving it access to proprietary digital banking technology.

These moves reflect a strategy focused on driving efficiency gains through technology and strengthening digital infrastructure to compete more effectively.

Airstar Bank

Airstar Bank has completed the full migration of its operations to the cloud with Tencent Cloud, a move it says will help lower costs, speed up product iteration, and allow resources to scale dynamically in line with future business expansion.

The bank was also among the first to join the launch of Payment Connect, a joint initiative by the HKMA and PBoC that enables instant cross-border payments between the two jurisdictions. In March 2025, Airstar further strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Ting Jiang as Chief Risk Officer.

Together, these steps point to a strategy focused on strengthening Airstar’s technology backbone, supporting cross-border ambitions, and reinforcing risk governance.

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