Consumers in Asia Pacific continue to take a cautious approach to managing their personal finances. While many countries such as India, Singapore and Australia are experiencing an improvement in consumer sentiment, economic uncertainty and elevated living costs remain a stark reality.
New Adobe research indicates that more than 80% of consumers are motivated to better their finances, yet many feel they're not doing enough to meet their long-term goals. They cite key barriers like paying off debt, not knowing where to start, or just being too busy.
At the same time, less than 40% of consumers believe that their primary bank offers them enough support to achieve their goals. There's a trust gap: consumers are looking to advisors, friends, and family before their primary bank for financial guidance.
Consumers are looking for empathy, guidance, and personalised help - not just rates or rewards. They want holistic financial planning, with features like integrated tools, tailored guidance, and knowledgeable reps woven seamlessly into the financial journey.
Financial wellness features desired by consumers
Banks that step up will become trusted partners in their customers' financial lives. When customers feel their bank is genuinely helping them do better financially, they reward them with both attention and advocacy.
Banks that don't, lose relevance and open the door for fintechs or even non-financial platforms to step in. Think about how super-apps or investment apps such as Grab and Revolut are already positioning themselves as everyday money companions.
Overcoming the expectation-trust gap
Our research shows that today's digitally savvy consumers have, on average, four financial apps on their mobile phone, switching providers to optimise rates, experiences and rewards. And for many banks, mobile apps are now a driver of engagement and growth across the customer lifecycle.
Given that banks have a data-led understanding of customers' preferences and finances, they are well positioned to provide relevant, contextual support, anchored on a mobile app. This is where a bank's financial wellness programs can play a more holistic role.
Adobe's Financial Wellness Index was created to understand where programs are performing or falling short. That is, the opportunities for retail banks to improve the delivery of personalised financial wellness initiatives, meet consumer expectations of digital banking experiences and win more trust.
The five core dimensions for financial wellness delivery
The Index evaluates retail banking apps across Asia Pacific on five core dimensions, producing an overall maturity scale for financial wellness delivery. At a country level, the Index for Singaporean retail banking apps ranked highest, outperforming on many measures. Australia followed, taking the top spot in the region for permission-based engagement, reflecting the emphasis on privacy control & security.
India came next, achieving the highest score for financial guidance dimension, likely supported by consumers' access to human relationship managers. This dimension emerged as a relative weakness for other markets.
Zooming out, the Index results reveal that no single bank or country performed at an advanced level across all dimensions. This suggests that providing more holistic support for consumers offers a pathway to better financial wellness outcomes.
The role of AI in financial wellness
Customer journeys are also being reshaped by generative AI. In fact, 44% of Asia Pacific consumers say that large language models are their preferred channel for research. We've also seen banks registering a 12x increase in AI-driven visits to their websites.
This signals a new discovery era - moving from traditional search engine optimisation to generative engine optimisation. What's even more critical to note is that these AI-driven visitors spend 45% more time on-site and are seven per cent more likely to start an application. To maintain share of voice, retail banks urgently need to optimise content for AI-driven search.
A small majority of consumers are also comfortable with AI-assisted financial management, even if there is a prevailing preference for human support. As more banks embed generative AI features within their app experiences, considering these and other preferences will be crucial to adoption and trust.
For example, our research shows that comfort levels vary across generations. Gen Z is most comfortable using AI to manage their finances while Gen X is more likely to seek a human touch. Most people also want oversight of how AI tools are accessing their data.
Attitudes towards AI by generation
These findings suggest that a tiered deployment model, tailored to the comfort levels and preferences of different segments can help meet varying levels of readiness. In addition, transparent explanations of AI features and data usage can help meet the more universal need for data controls.
We're already seeing AI-first financial wellness use. For example, in Australia a few banks are experimenting with GenAI-powered "financial coaches" that can tailor advice - not generic budgeting tips, but context-aware nudges based on the customer's spending, savings goals, or even upcoming life events.
Pathways to mutual value creation
With consumers expecting banks to play a more meaningful role in their financial wellness, banks have an opportunity to rise to the challenge. That translates to digital experiences that help consumers manage their finances, get support as their needs and life stage evolve, and provide seamless access to digital and human guidance.
Personalising experiences to individual consumer goals and preferences is central to effective delivery, leading to engagement and cross-sell opportunities. That relies on using data and AI to uncover insights, accelerating content creation, and engaging customers when their need is greatest.
Adobe's modelling and industry benchmarking highlight the mutual benefits of enhanced financial wellness programs. Consumers get closer to their financial ambitions, while banks can increase revenue by six to ten per cent by delivering personalised content and offers in real time.