Jing Ji Guan Cha Wang·2025-08-22 09:49Core Insights - The Chinese mobile banking app market has entered a phase of stock competition in the first half of 2025, with monthly active users (MAU) fluctuating between 650 million and 700 million, showing low growth rates between -1.2% and 4.6% [1] - User engagement is declining significantly, with daily effective usage time dropping from 4.93 minutes to 2.70 minutes and daily usage frequency decreasing from 4.54 times to 2.86 times from 2023 to 2025 [1] - Private banks, particularly WeBank and MYbank, are facing severe challenges, with MYbank's MAU plummeting by 64.7%, failing to make it into the top 50 rankings [1] Group 1: Performance of Major Banks - The six major state-owned banks maintain a dominant position in the mobile banking landscape, with Agricultural Bank of China leading with 238 million MAU, a year-on-year increase of 4.8% [2][3] - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank follow with 189 million and 106 million MAU, respectively, forming the top tier of the industry [3] - China Bank and Postal Savings Bank also saw slight increases in MAU, while Bank of Communications experienced a decline of 5.0% [3] Group 2: Challenges Faced by Joint-Stock Banks - Joint-stock commercial banks are generally experiencing a decline in user activity, with China Merchants Bank leading among them but still seeing a 1.2% decrease in MAU [4] - Other banks like Ping An Pocket Bank, CITIC Bank, and Minsheng Bank also reported declines ranging from 2.9% to 11.5%, with Guangfa Bank suffering the largest drop at 31.0% [4] - The challenges stem from increased competition from state-owned banks and local rural commercial banks, as well as a lack of differentiation in financial products [4] Group 3: Performance of City Commercial Banks - City commercial banks show a mixed performance, with 17 entering the top 50 MAU rankings, indicating strong regional influence [6] - Jiangsu Bank leads city banks with 349.6 million MAU, while Qilu Bank saw a significant increase of 27.3% [6] - However, some banks like Ningbo Bank and Hangzhou Bank experienced declines exceeding 16% [6] Group 4: Decline of Private Banks - Private banks like WeBank and MYbank are facing drastic declines, with WeBank's MAU at 141.3 million, down 27.3%, and MYbank dropping out of the top 50 [7] - The decline is attributed to traditional banks enhancing their digital capabilities, regulatory changes, and significant gaps in service offerings compared to traditional banks [7] Group 5: Future Outlook - The competition in the mobile banking sector is shifting from scale expansion to value cultivation, emphasizing the importance of integrating financial services into high-frequency scenarios like education and public services [9][10] - State-owned banks are successfully leveraging their resources to create an ecosystem that enhances user engagement, while joint-stock banks need to focus on specific customer segments to avoid internal competition [9] - The future of mobile banking will likely revolve around comprehensive financial ecosystems and customer insights rather than just app functionalities [10]