The embrace of mobile banking in the Asia-Pacific region is creating intense competition.

This report builds on a Celent online study in the spring of 2014 that targeted banks in 14 markets to shed light on mobile banking trends and characteristics in the Asia-Pacific region. Through a series of follow-up interviews, Celent explored and analyzed the current situation and outlook for the future of banks participating in the survey.

An increasing number of bank transactions, from browsing account balances and transaction history to small-value transfers and even loan and investment products, are being conducted via mobile channels.

“Market entrants coming from outside banking, with novel and original business models, are expected to have an immense impact on Asia’s banking industry. In addition, many people in Southeast Asia still do not have bank accounts. Mobile banking strategies crafted with this in mind have the potential to spur growth at banks around the region,” says KyongSun Kong, an analyst with Celent's Asian Financial Services practice and author of the report.

This report includes one figure.