HK Virtual Banks

Sector total downloads

≈4.7M
2019–2025 cumulative

Top 1 bank by downloads

ZA Bank
~1.29M (28% share)

Top 1 bank by search heat

ZA Bank
peaked 2021 (54)

Peak download year

2021
~1.26M downloads

Steepest decline

livi Bank
270k (2021) → 17k (2024)

Annual App Downloads (units)

Google Trends — Search Interest (relative)

Cumulative downloads share (2019–2025)

Average search heat 2020–2025

App downloads by bank — annual

Bank2019202020212022202320242025Total

Note 2025 is partial-year per the source export. WeLab and Ant Bank have multiple App Store listings (EN + CN) summed; PAO Bank merges 3 listings (SME, 平安壹賬通商業銀行, 平安銀行香港). Airstar = legacy + EleBank rebrand.

Google Trends search heat — annual yearly index

Bank2019202020212022202320242025

Index 0–100 scale, RELATIVE not absolute. Cross-basket normalization uses ZA Bank as anchor. EN + traditional-Chinese brand names summed per bank. HK geo only.

SensorTower listings (raw, before per-bank aggregation)

Listing2019202020212022202320242025Total

Methodology / caveats

  1. Downloads: SensorTower covers App Store + Google Play. Multiple listings per bank summed (rebrands, separate EN/CN bundles, SME vs retail apps).
  2. Search heat: 4 Google Trends baskets × 5 keywords (HK only, 2019-01 to 2025-12). 'ZA Bank' anchor in every basket → cross-normalize. Yearly mean of monthly index. EN + CN brand names summed per bank.
  3. 2025 partial: SensorTower export cuts off mid-2025 — '25 column under-states full year.
  4. 2019: Only ZA Bank shows non-zero pre-launch search interest (license news Mar 2019). Most banks launched mid-late 2020.
  5. NOT INCLUDED: MAU/DAU (rarely public), social follower snapshots (no historical), media-mention counts / share-of-voice (require Meltwater/Talkwalker subscription).
  6. Caveat — PAO Bank Chinese name: '平安壹賬通' search may include parent OneConnect Financial Tech (HKEX-listed) news, slightly inflating PAO Bank's apparent heat.

Banks reviewed

6
Mox · ZA · Livi · Fusion · Airstar · PAO

Discloses every year

1
Mox Bank only

Partial disclosure

2
Livi (FY21–23), Fusion (FY21 only)

s.388(3) exemption

2
Airstar & PAO (every year)

Press-release sourced

1
ZA Bank (no HKMA disclosure)

Disclosed retail customer counts ('000)

Lines are drawn only where banks explicitly disclose absolute counts. Gaps mean the figure was not reported.

Year-by-year customer count matrix

BankFY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025Disclosure pattern
Mox –200400523650750 Disclosed every year (Directors' Report)
ZA Bank (retail) 300480650700800– From press releases (HKMA filings silent)
Livi (retail) –200–300–– FY21 & FY23 disclosed; FY24/25 dropped absolute count
Livi (SME) ––0.62.8–– FY22 figure dated 14-Mar-2023 (post-balance-sheet)
Fusion –+9× growth (no abs)% growth only% growth only% growth only% growth only Never disclosed absolute count
Airstar s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3) Wholly-owned subsidiary exemption — no business review
PAO Bank s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3)s.388(3) Wholly-owned subsidiary exemption — no business review

Numbers in green = disclosed in audited Directors' Report. Grey '–' = not disclosed. Red italic = audit report invokes s.388(3) of Companies Ordinance Cap. 622 (wholly-owned subsidiary exemption).

Verbatim quotations from official Directors' Reports

BankYearFigureQuotationSource

HKMA Virtual Public Register — Bank IDs & Shareholders

BankVPR IDShareholders / parentHKMA registry

Methodology & key takeaways

  1. Audited Directors' Report is the only authoritative annual source for customer counts.
  2. s.388(3) exemption (Hong Kong Companies Ordinance Cap. 622) lets wholly-owned subsidiaries omit the business review. Airstar Bank and PAO Bank have invoked this every year.
  3. Fusion Bank publishes a proper Business Review but never quantified customers in absolute terms after FY2021's "9× growth" line.
  4. Livi Bank stopped disclosing absolute customer counts after FY2023.
  5. Mox Bank is the most transparent — discloses approximate customer count every year.
  6. ZA Bank figures are entirely media-sourced; the audited HKMA filings do not disclose customer numbers.
  7. FY2020: All six banks launched between Jun-Dec 2020 — only ZA disclosed a public ~300k figure.

Largest deposits 2025

ZA Bank
HK$ 22.2B

Highest NII 2025

WeLab
HK$ 889M

Best NII/Deposit

WeLab
11.0%

Fastest deposit growth

PAO Bank
+140.7% YoY

Most marketing spend

WeLab
HK$ 209M (2025)

Customer Deposits (HK$ Bn)

Net Interest Income (HK$ M)

Marketing Expense (HK$ M)

NII / Deposit Ratio 2025 (%)

客户存款 (千 HKD)

银行2019202020212022202320242025

净利息收入 (千 HKD)

银行2019202020212022202320242025

市场营销费用 (千 HKD)

银行2019202020212022202320242025口径说明

客户数 (千，预估) & ARPU

银行客户数 (千)ARPU (HKD)
202020212022202320242025202020212022202320242025

Data notes

  1. 营销费用口径不一：众安/Mox/Fusion 为市场营销费用；蚂蚁为"其他费用"(2023起有单独市场费用)；WeLab为"其他费用"(2023起与WeLend合并)；象象为"其他营业支出"；Livi/PAO为"其他"(PAO 19/20年含市场拓展支出)。
  2. 客户数为预估：仅众安、Mox、Livi部分年份有公开数据，其余未披露。
  3. ARPU = 净利息收入 / 客户数，仅在有客户数数据的银行可计算。
  4. WeLab 2023年起与WeLend合并，营销费用与净利息收入口径有跳变。
  5. 蚂蚁银行 2022年存款大幅下降后2024-2025年恢复增长。
  6. 所有金额单位：千港币 (HKD '000)。