APAC Focus: Asian Banks "Will AI Deliver What Technology Never Could for..."

Research evidence excerpt

APAC Focus: Asian Banks "Will AI Deliver What Technology Never Could for..."

Global Research

18 May 2026ab

Asian Banks Equities

AsiaAPAC Focus: Will AI Deliver What Technology

Never Could for Asian Banks?Please Banks

Aakash Rawat, CFA

Analyst

aakash.rawat@ubs.com

+65-6495 8283

Benjamin Tan

benjamin.tan-yx@ubs.com

+65-6495 3239

May Yan

may.yan@ubs.com

+852-2971 7157

Vishal Goyal

vishal.goyal@ubs.com

+91-22-6155 6050

Joshua Tanja, CFA

joshua.tanja@ubs.com

+62-21-2554 7030A35% relative ROE premium already separates Asia’s most AI-ready banking

Jason Napier, CFA

markets from the least. Does this reflect genuine AI foresight? We don’t think so.

We see this as a reflection of macro resilience and the"safety trade" that has driven jason.napier@ubs.com

Asian banks performance since last year through a period of uncertainty. AI, +44-20-7568 5037

however, could introduce real optionality. If macro conditions were to shift and

Koichi Niwa

preference for safety were to fade, but AI were to deliver on the efficiency gains

promise, we believe this can continue to support the outperformers. koichi.niwa@ubs.com

+81-3-5208 6245

Six structural factors to assess AI readiness John Storey, CFA

Not all Asian banks are equal in their ability to convert AI investments into efficiency Analyst

gains. Studying two decades of cost efficiency journeys across 13 markets in close john.storey@ubs.com

collaboration with the UBS Asia banks team reveals 6 structural factors that matter: Tech +61-2-9324 3864

Culture, IT Infrastructure, Efficiency Room, Labour Flexibility, Competitive Urgency and Peach Patharavanakul

Scale. On a scorecard based on these factors, banks in Korea, Singapore, Australia Analyst

& Thailand emerge as better positioned.