

Core Insights - The financial industry is focusing on enhancing its "digital finance" capabilities, transitioning from "digitalization" to "intelligent digitalization" in 2024 [1] - Financial institutions are increasing their technology investments and talent reserves, emphasizing a more pragmatic approach to technology spending and its return on investment [2] Group 1: Technology Investment Trends - In 2024, the six major state-owned banks invested a total of 125.46 billion yuan in financial technology, a 2.15% increase from 2023, but the revenue share remains below 4% for most banks [2] - Postal Savings Bank saw the highest growth in technology investment, reaching 12.30 billion yuan, a 9.03% increase, accounting for 3.53% of its operating income [2] - Nearly half of the banks reported a slight decline in the proportion of technology investment relative to revenue, indicating a shift towards more efficient spending [2] Group 2: AI and Big Model Applications - The application of large models is becoming prominent across various business areas, with China Construction Bank launching 168 financial model applications in 2024 [3] - China Merchants Bank and CITIC Bank are also focusing on "AI + finance" strategies, with China Merchants Bank introducing the first open-source financial model with over 100 billion parameters [3] - Ping An has made digital transformation a priority for 2025, with significant expectations for AI technology applications, reporting 250,000 to 300,000 daily uses of large models internally [3] Group 3: Organizational Changes - Financial institutions are restructuring to better align with digital finance needs, with many forming dedicated committees for digital finance [5] - China Merchants Bank and others are enhancing their organizational culture to support cross-department collaboration and innovation [5] - Zhejiang Commercial Bank has established a financial technology research institute to explore new technologies like large models and quantum technology [5] Group 4: Infrastructure Development - The six major state-owned banks are significantly investing in computing power and cloud computing, with China Construction Bank's computing power reaching 507.72 PFlops, a 9.58% increase [6] - Postal Savings Bank is advancing its cloud-native platform, achieving a tenfold increase in processing efficiency for its core business systems [6] - Other banks, such as CITIC Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, are also making substantial investments in distributed core systems and data centers [6] Group 5: Strategic Recommendations - Large financial institutions are advised to balance investment and output, focusing on core technology development and infrastructure upgrades [7] - Smaller institutions should avoid "digital anxiety" and develop tailored digital transformation strategies based on their resources [7] - Emphasis on core technology innovation and creating a conducive environment for research and development is crucial for competitive advantage [7]