Private banks have officially entered a critical year of profound differentiation in 2025, moving beyond their initial period of rapid, "rough-and-tumble" expansion. From their early roles as "disruptors" and "pilots" to the current phase marked by "stock differentiation" and "capability rebuilding," private banks are undergoing a pivotal transformation.
As of now, except for Zhongbang Bank which has postponed its disclosure, the 2025 performance of the other 18 private banks has been fully released. The industry overall exhibits a notable characteristic of "stable aggregate size with internal divergence." The total assets have exceeded 2.21 trillion yuan. The 18 institutions collectively achieved operating revenue of 93.512 billion yuan during the reporting period, showing a year-on-year decline, while net profit slightly increased to 18.623 billion yuan. However, beneath the calm aggregate figures lies intense "polarized" divergence: the asset size difference between the top and bottom banks is 37-fold, and the net profit gap exceeds a hundredfold. Concurrently, several private banks have seen state-owned capital become shareholders. Since 2024, three banks have introduced state-owned capital, with another one in the process.
Performance Shows "Polarized" Landscape A "Top Two" Lead, Severe Tiered Differentiation Overall, the 2025 performance of private banks presents an unprecedented pattern of differentiation, forming a three-tiered structure: "top two leading, middle tier diverging, and tail end struggling."
WeBank and MyBank continue to lead the industry with a断层式优势. WeBank's total assets reached 766.29 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%, firmly holding the top industry position. Its annual operating revenue was 36.284 billion yuan, down 4.84% year-on-year, while net profit was 11.012 billion yuan, up a slight 1.00% year-on-year. Its lead lies not only in scale but also in business structure: inclusive loans to micro and small enterprises account for 46%. Its "Wei Ye Dai" product serves a large number of enterprises with annual revenue below 10 million yuan, with an average credit line of about 1 million yuan per customer, precisely滴灌 the real economy.
MyBank's total assets reached 504.588 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of 7.12% from the beginning of the year. It achieved operating revenue of 20.563 billion yuan, up 3.65% year-on-year, and net profit of 3.293 billion yuan, up 4.01% year-on-year. The bank's non-performing loan ratio was 2.19%, down 0.11 percentage points from the start of the year. Its provision coverage ratio was 240.68%, up 39.68 percentage points from the beginning of the year.
Private banks in the second tier show a clear divergence trend. Xinwang Bank's operating revenue in 2025 was 6.942 billion yuan, up 8.97% year-on-year, with net profit of 1.103 billion yuan, a 36% year-on-year increase. Suzhou Bank's operating revenue was 5.808 billion yuan, up 16.02% year-on-year, with net profit of 1.16 billion yuan, a slight 0.16% year-on-year increase. Tianjin Jincheng Bank achieved a net profit of 1.006 billion yuan, a 402% year-on-year increase, making it the fastest-growing private bank.
Overall, in an industry environment of narrowing net interest margins and intensifying competition, some private banks face operational pressures. Data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration shows that the average net interest margin for private banks at the end of 2025 was 3.83%, down 12 basis points from the beginning of the year. This has also led to situations where some banks experience revenue growth without synchronous profit growth.
Multiple Banks Welcome State-Owned Capital Investment Transitioning from Purely Private to Mixed Ownership In the past two years, the most notable trend in the private banking industry has been the entry of state-owned capital. Since 2024, three private banks have introduced local state-owned capital, with another one advancing, marking a profound transformation in the ownership structure and development model of private banks.
After Nanchang Financial Holdings acquired shares to become the largest shareholder of Jiangxi Yumin Bank in August 2024, the shares held by its second-largest shareholder were also taken over by local state-owned capital in 2025, raising the total state-owned shareholding to 59.5% and achieving absolute control. Anhui Xin'an Bank saw three Anhui local state-owned enterprises acquire 51% of its shares in November 2024, making it the first state-controlled private bank nationwide. Wuxi Xishang Bank also introduced Wuxi Guolian Development Group as its largest shareholder with a 25% stake in April 2025. These three cases collectively signify that local state-owned capital is systematically entering private banks through controlling or strategic investments, driving a profound shift in their ownership structure from purely private to mixed ownership.
Furthermore, it is understood that Yilian Bank is also in the process of introducing a local state-owned capital shareholder. Jilin Provincial Financial Holding Group may take over the shares originally held by the largest shareholder, Jilin Shengzhuo Investment (holding 30%). The process is currently undergoing regulatory approval and legal procedures as required by law.
The entry of state-owned capital into private banks is not an accidental phenomenon but the result of multiple factors acting together. Specifically: first, operational difficulties of private shareholders; second, capital replenishment pressure. As of the end of 2025, the average capital adequacy ratio of private banks was 12.55%, while the average for commercial banks was 15.46%; third, regulatory policy guidance. Under the requirement to prevent and化解 financial risks, optimizing shareholder structure has become an important means; fourth, strategic considerations of local governments, hoping to对接 financial resources with local industrial upgrading by controlling bank equity.
Simultaneously, the entry of state-owned capital will bring multifaceted impacts to private banks: on one hand, it helps optimize ownership structure, enhance capital strength and risk resilience, and may借助 the qualifications, customer base, and channel resources of state-owned shareholders to improve operating performance; on the other hand, business structures may adjust due to shareholder backgrounds, and market-oriented mechanisms face new tests. Analysis points out that as the proportion of state-owned shares increases, the "private" nature of these banks may淡化.
AI Elevates from "Tool" to "Survival Infrastructure" Through the 2025 annual reports, it is observed that facing dual pressures of narrowing net interest margins and tightening regulatory policies, private banks accelerated their digital transformation步伐 in 2025, attempting to achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and business innovation through technological empowerment. The industry widely recognizes that after regulators blocked the "outsourced risk control" path, independent technological capability has upgraded from an "efficiency tool" to a "market entry ticket" and "survival foundation." AI competition is essentially a competition in algorithm sophistication, data quality, and the depth of integration with business.
WeBank announced in 2023 a comprehensive upgrade from a digital bank to an AI-native bank, building a three-tier AI capability system deeply integrated into the entire financial chain. By the end of 2025, the bank's AI computing power scale increased 3.5 times year-on-year. Daily call volume surged from 41,000 times to 2.4 million times, and daily Token consumption rose from 200 million to over 5 billion. It is learned that as of April 2026, the bank has successfully built over 800 Agents, deeply integrating AI into high-complexity, high-value core business chains. Over 70 digital employees have officially "joined" various important positions across front, middle, and back offices, maintaining an industry-leading pace in the scaled application of digital labor.
For AI capabilities to be effectively applied in the financial industry, the core requirement is possessing financial decision-making abilities, including key capabilities in risk control and investment decisions. Feng Liang, President of MyBank, introduced that the bank's related innovation attempts have made effective progress. With AI-assisted risk control, the approval speed for complex "疑难杂症"-type credit applications accelerated from 25 minutes to 8.7 minutes. With AI-assisted investment capabilities, the daily subscription/redemption amount prediction偏差 for 97 wealth management products is <0.5%, effectively enhancing the product management capabilities of partner wealth management subsidiaries and improving customer investment returns without increasing risk appetite.
Beyond the leading players, more small and medium-sized banks focus on scenarios. For example, Suzhou Bank adopts a strategy of "concentrated investment, precise倾斜," not excessively pursuing computing power scale or广泛投入 across the entire chain. Instead, it uses an "open-source model + secondary development" model,引入 high-performance open-source large models like DeepSeek,结合 business scenarios for lightweight optimization. It simultaneously优先布局 high-value scenarios like intelligent credit, intelligent risk control, and intelligent customer service, ensuring every fund translates into business value and avoiding inefficient投入. Suzhou Bank invests 6% of its annual operating revenue into digital technology R&D, with 10% specifically allocated to the AI field. From 2022 to 2025, cumulative investment in data and AI-related areas exceeded 100 million yuan.
In 2025, Jincheng Bank's self-developed "Enterprise AI Brain" promoted the integration of intelligent agents with scenarios, integrating four modules: enterprise knowledge base, intelligent customer service, code辅助插件, and compliance cockpit. It achieved intelligent upgrades from operations to development and won the "China Best Generative AI Application Project" award.
As Wang Tianfeng, Chief Information Officer of Jincheng Bank, stated, for large banks, digital technology might be a "tool to提升 efficiency"; but for private banks like Jincheng Bank, digital technology is the "survival foundation and development动力."
Entering an Era of Capability-Based Competition AI Integration and Specialization Build New Moats Overall, in 2025, private banks collectively bid farewell to the high-speed expansion phase and entered a period of deep adjustment centered on structural optimization,合规经营, and capability self-building. Banks generally主动收缩 high-dependency, high-risk, low-quality合作业务,大幅精简合作渠道, shifting from一味追求 scale growth speed to focusing on asset quality and operational sustainability. Meanwhile,转型方向基本趋同:发力自营业务体系建设,全面补齐自主获客,风控审批,贷后管理全链条能力;回归金融服务实体经济本源, positioning micro and small enterprise finance, inclusive finance, and supply chain finance as strategic focal points,深耕区域市场, serving local customer groups, and building differentiated advantages for错位竞争 with large banks.
From a全局 perspective, the development of private banks is undergoing a profound转换. The early "草莽时代" reliant on traffic红利,股东光环, and regulatory arbitrage has already落幕. A new cycle with "capability本位" at its core is加速来临.
This转换 is specifically manifested in:
AI Integration, Determining the "Competition" Core. When regulators彻底封堵 the shortcut of "outsourced risk control," technological capability upgrades from a "tool for降本增效" to a "ticket for准入市场." Future competition is an efficiency battle of algorithm versus algorithm, data versus data. Leading institutions represented by WeBank, by creating an "AI-native" system, transform technological advantages into极致运营成本, precise risk pricing, and personalized service experiences, establishing a "generational领先" moat. For all players, AI is no longer a锦上添花的 department project but a生存性 infrastructure that must be融入业务基因 and驱动核心流程.
Specialization, Pointing to the Path of "Rebirth." Under the backdrop of巨头生态,泛化经营 by small and medium-sized banks offers no出路. The opportunity for "rebirth" lies in收缩战线, going deep and thorough in specific industry chains, regional economies, or customer segments. Whether深耕 supply chain finance, focusing on tech innovation enterprises, or扎根本地社区, successful specialization means building深度认知, data accumulation, and risk control models for细分领域 that surpass peers, thereby establishing irreplaceable advantages in局部市场. This is a role蜕变 from "financial supplier" to "industrial合作 partner."
In summary, the future trajectory of private banks will be highly differentiated. Leading institutions凭借先发优势,科技底蕴, and生态资源,有望穿越周期, even exploring综合化,国际化. For example, WeBank's tech subsidiary—WeBank Technology—has expanded to markets including Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, with合作意向金额 exceeding billions of US dollars. Meanwhile, a large number of small and medium-sized banks must make strategic choices between "state-owned transformation for survival," "merger and重组 for strength," or "深耕细分市场 for refinement."
The industry's洗牌 is also a process of价值回归. Regardless of the path chosen, the core proposition for private banks remains unchanged: whether they can truly establish a sustainable risk pricing and盈利模式 based on deep industry认知 and科技驱动, and find their own irreplaceable价值锚点 in the process of serving the毛细血管 of the real economy.
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