Mapping SEA’s digital banks: Profits prove elusive despite some wins

This is the latest version of the article that was previously updated on December 4, 2024. Since then, we’ve added several startups and new funding rounds to the list.

Before the year ends, a challenger bank in Southeast Asia will go public – a first for the industry in the region.

Indonesia-based Superbank reported a net profit of US$3.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, a reversal from the US$17.7 million loss it recorded during the same period in 2024. It’s the third consecutive quarter of net profitability for the bank.

The positive developments come as Superbank – backed by a consortium composed of Grab, Singtel, KakaoBank, and Indonesian conglomerate Emtek Group – prepares to list on the Indonesia Stock Exchange this month. It aims to raise US$180 million.

“What makes Superbank as one of the most interesting IPOs for Indonesia is it’s going public as a profitable business,” Farras Farhan, senior equity research analyst at Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia, tells Tech in Asia. “The fact that it’s also operating within the Grab ecosystem and backed by Emtek makes it highly anticipated.”

It’s not the only digital bank in the country that has turned its fortunes around.

Bank Jago posted US$12 million in net income for the first nine months of 2025 on the back of its growing loan asset base, which rose 36% year on year. Despite this boost, the bank recorded a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 0.4%, well below the industry-wide average of 2.75%.

These rosy performances, however, are the exceptions rather than the rule across Southeast Asia.

The majority of digital banks in the region are still unprofitable, though many are inching closer to that goal. All but one of Singapore’s digital banks, for instance, narrowed their net losses in 2024 compared to the previous year.

GXS Bank, owned by super app Grab and telco giant Singtel, cut 82 jobs or about 10% of its entire workforce across its offices in Southeast Asia this month. The bank operates in Singapore and Malaysia and has a tech center in India.

See also: Singapore’s digital banking battle in 8 charts

In the Philippines, deposits held by digital banks increased by 33% by the end of Q1 2025 to 102.3 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion), breaching the 100 billion mark for the first time. But a representative of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, said earlier this year that it does not expect digital banks to turn a profit anytime soon.

NPLs remain a challenge for many players. For those based in the Philippines, a number of them grapple with disbursing credit products due to limited data on their target market.

Roshan Behera, partner at RedSeer Strategy Consultants, explains that digital banks in Southeast Asia struggle to scale due to inflationary pressures and volatile interest rates. Global macroeconomic conditions are also not in their favor, making the cost of capital more expensive.

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