WeLab Bank eyes $800m profit boost in five years

Local digital bank WeLab Bank expects to generate an additional HK$800 million in net profit in the next five years following a restructuring completed earlier this month.

Online lending platform WeLend has become a unit of WeLab Bank. Previously, they were sister firms under the local fintech startup WeLab.

WeLab Bank said it is poised to be profitable next year, aiming to become the first batch of profitable digital banks in Asia. As of June this year, its customer deposits nearly tripled to HK$6 billion from a year ago, said Tat Lee Ka-tat, chief executive of WeLab Bank, adding that the bank is targeting HK$8 billion in customer deposits by year-end.

Meanwhile, the parent WeLab said it is on track to serve 500 million users by 2032 in the Asia Pacific region as it attracted over 1 million customers in its digital bank in Indonesia within six months of its launch last November. The group currently serves about 63 million users.

WeLab is actively exploring new markets in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, particularly seeking to provide digital banking services and other technology services in the finance sector, said its founder and group chief executive Simon Loong Pui-chi.

WeLab is concurrently in discussion with multiple conglomerates in Southeast Asia to deliver its tech-driven financial services across diverse business models following its earlier collaboration with HSBC (0005) in the region.