Higher interest rates challenge Asia-Pacific digital banks, says Fitch Ratings

Many new digital banks in the Asia-Pacific region will find it more challenging to achieve financial viability as interest rates increase, economic growth slows, and funding conditions tighten, according to Fitch Ratings.

惠誉评级表示，随着利率上升、经济增长放缓和融资条件收紧，亚太地区许多新的数字银行将发现实现财务可行性更具挑战性。

In a statement on 7th September, it said a softer economy could also affect the banks' target customers disproportionately, raising asset-quality risks.

在9 月 7 日的一份声明中，它表示经济疲软也可能对银行的目标客户产生不成比例的影响，从而提高资产质量风险。

The rating agency said it expects the current monetary policy tightening cycle to generally support bank credit profiles in Asia, to the extent that higher interest rates lift net interest margins (NIMs).

该评级机构表示，预计当前的货币政策收紧周期将普遍支持亚洲的银行信用状况，因为利率上升会提高净息差 (NIM)。

However, it said NIM improvements for digital entrants are likely to be constrained by their more limited pricing power, as they seek to boost their deposits and lending business to achieve scale and profitability.

然而，它表示，数字进入者的 NIM 改进可能会受到其定价能力有限的限制，因为他们寻求提高存款和贷款业务以实现规模和盈利能力。

Fitch expects NIMs for these entrants to be more influenced by their risk appetite.

惠誉预计，这些进入者的净息差将更多地受到其风险偏好的影响。

“In general, we believe the best opportunities for digital banks in Asia-Pacific are in markets with larger unbanked populations.

“总的来说，我们认为亚太地区数字银行的最佳机会在于无银行账户人口较多的市场。

“However, lending to underserved sectors carries higher risk, with their lower income and limited credit history posing key challenges for digital banks trying to crack the market.

“然而，向服务不足的行业提供贷款具有更高的风险，其收入较低且信用记录有限，这对试图打入市场的数字银行构成了关键挑战。

“We expect credit costs to rise more significantly for these segments in a higher-interest-rate environment,” said Fitch.

惠誉表示：“我们预计，在利率较高的环境下，这些细分市场的信贷成本将显着上升。”