Alibaba or Tencent - Who will win race for 650 mn virtual bank accounts?

Technology giants like Alibaba, Tencent are entering the banking sector which offers at least 650 million digital savvy smartphone owners who use online payment methods regularly

China’s tech giants have upended the country's payments system and promise to shake up its consumer-banking sector. The rest of the region won't be so easy.

Asia is quickly becoming the next battlefront for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Ant Financial and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat Pay, after both secured licenses to set up online-only banks in Hong Kong earlier this month. Singapore’s welcoming regulatory environment makes the city-state an obvious entry point to Southeast Asia.

The region’s huge market could offer some easy wins. Much of its population of over 650 million are digitally savvy smartphone owners, already comfortable with