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Hello Betamax, Several fintech companies in the Philippines have reported profits in the past months. One of them is Tonik Bank, which announced last week that it had become the first standalone digital bank in the country to hit the milestone. As my colleague Jofie highlights in this edition's featured story, a similar trend has been emerging in Indonesia. Almost all the major digital banks in the archipelago recorded a net profit before tax last year. Superbank, backed by Grab and Singtel, is among them. It flipped into the black and pulled off a US$158 million IPO. Grab also stepped up to take majority control of the digital bank. But the undisputed top player in Indonesia right now is SeaBank. In 2025, the company raked in a staggering US$499 million in net income - more than triple that of its closest competitor, Bank Jago. The two firms dominating by net income highlight that ecosystem players have a leg up. In Bank Jago's case, the digital bank is integrated into Gojek's suite of services, giving it access to the latter's large pool of users. For SeaBank, it's the service's integration with Shopee. Jofie digs into more numbers, including who's winning the efficiency race and how banks are dealing with bad loans. Also in this edition, we take a look back at our coverage of Grab's takeover of Foodpanda Taiwan. As it stands, it seems Uber's not taking a slice off Foodpanda anymore - it's eyeing the whole pie. Miguel Cordon, journalist |
TOP STORYIndonesia's leading digital banks in 6 charts  The digital banks are also cutting interest rates. SeaBank, in particular, is down to 6%, yet it still leads in terms of customer deposits. Utami Ratnasari, senior analyst at Fitch Ratings, told Tech in Asia that instead of high deposit rates, digital banks are focusing more on ensuring that customers are using their respective apps daily. That's a game traditional players will struggle to keep up with. |
SUPERAI'S SUPERCHARGING THE FUTURE OF AIIn partnership with  SuperAI, the largest AI conference in Asia, is returning to Singapore for its third edition. Taking place from June 10 to 11 at Marina Bay Sands, it'll bring together 10,000 attendees, over 150 speakers, and more than 1,500 AI companies from across frontier labs, enterprise, capital, government, and the startup ecosystem. The event features speakers such as Balaji Srinivasan, author of the Network State and founder of the Network School; Benedict Evans, independent tech analyst; and Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer. It will also bring together industry leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Mistral AI, Unitree, Cerebras Systems, and more. The conference aims to uncover how the AI conversation can move from research and demos to real-world applications and deployment. Get your tickets to SuperAI today. |
SPOTLIGHTFrom leader to acquisition target  Delivery Hero recently confirmed that it had received a takeover offer from Uber. The Financial Times has since reported the offer, which valued Delivery Hero at over US$13.39 billion, was rejected, with Uber considering a higher bid. Uber had a US$950 million bid for Foodpanda Taiwan accepted in May 2024. However, the Taiwanese government later blocked the deal. Since then, Uber seems to have changed its approach from local market acquisitions to a full-scale takeover, which could bypass regional regulatory hurdles. I previously reported on Grab's US$600 million deal to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan. While the amount was considerably lower than Uber's previous bid, it still provided a cash lifeline to Delivery Hero at the time, whose shares had fallen by almost 90% from their 2021 highs. Delivery Hero has reportedly put the parent firm of South Korea's Baemin up for sale as well. Baemin, which is the country's largest food delivery app, marks yet another retreat from Asia for Delivery Hero. However you slice it, Delivery Hero has quickly gone from a leader in Southeast Asian food delivery to an acquisition target, with the likes of Grab and Shopee muscling in on its territory. |
A VISUAL STORY YOU SHOULDN'T MISSDigital banks, but make them Singaporean  We took a look at the state of digital banking in Singapore about a year ago by diving into the players' 2024 financials. Digital banks in the city-state were yet to hit a profit back then, but they were moving in that direction. GXS Bank, the bank Grab and Singtel launched together, logged the highest net losses among the players at the time. However, these losses narrowed for FY2025, the Business Times reported. The bank also plans to tap into its parent firms' customers, with a credit card product slated for launch in 2026. The digital bank profit boom may be on its way to Singapore, too. |
INNOVATION AT THE FOREFRONTIn partnership with  Fun fact: Technology company Huawei made more than US$126 billion in 2025. Its R&D investment in the same year stood at 21.8% of its total revenue. This highlights the value that Huawei places on innovation, which was apparent at its latest Innovative Product Launch in Bangkok on May 7. The event showcased products like the HUAWEI MatePad Pro Max and the HUAWEI WATCH FIT 5 series and emphasized how the company has developed new solutions to meet users' needs. Check out its latest slate of consumer products and experience this innovation in action. |
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