Why Most Digital Banks Will Never Make Money

Aug 20

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Digital banks have spent years chasing customer growth. But scale alone does not create profitability.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Simon Loong, Founder and Group CEO of WeLab, explains what it takes to build a successful digital bank across Asia.

He shares why lending remains central to profitability, why standalone fintechs face a harder path, and how banking licences, AI, stablecoins and regional expansion are shaping the next phase of digital banking.

🎙️ In this episode:

• Why customer numbers are the wrong measure of scale
• What separates profitable digital banks from the rest
• Why lending remains central to digital banking economics
• The advantages and costs of obtaining a banking licence
• Why ecosystems improve a digital bank’s chances of success
• How digital banking strategies change across Asian markets
• Where AI is actually creating value inside banks
• How stablecoins and digital assets may connect with traditional finance
• Why profitability deserves more attention than growth

⏱️ CHAPTERS

01:43 Building one of Asia’s largest fintech companies
08:22 Leaving banking to become a fintech founder
10:31 Why fintechs pursue banking licences
19:33 The playbook behind profitable digital banks
27:19 Serving mature and underbanked markets
39:40 Can a pan-Asian digital bank succeed?
45:32 Where AI is actually delivering value in banking
49:16 Stablecoins, tokenisation and digital assets

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