China Merchants Bank combined substantial investment in technology in 2025 with digital services designed for the Greater Bay Area’s cross-border banking needs. It invested RMB12.9 billion ($1.6 billion) in information technology, equivalent to 4.31% of operating income, and deployed 856 AI applications across retail banking, wholesale banking, risk, operations and internal functions. Its two main consumer apps recorded 129 million monthly active users, while wholesale digital channels served 2.21 million monthly active corporate clients.
The clearest application in the GBA came in its Cross-Border Wealth Management Connect service. China Merchants Bank and CMB Wing Lung Bank introduced an end-to-end digital account-opening service for the southbound scheme in February 2025, allowing eligible mainland investors to complete verification, open remittance and investment accounts, transfer funds and purchase products through their mobile phones. Thousands of investors used the service during the year, while cumulative southbound account openings increased by nearly 30%. By year-end, the platform offered more than 200 products spanning global, European and Asia-Pacific markets, alongside more than 10 bonds and certificates of deposits.
A combination of high-volume digital infrastructure and practical cross-border execution gave GBA customers faster access to banking, investment and financing services across mainland China and Hong Kong
Artificial intelligence was implemented at scale rather than confined to pilots. Daily token processing increased 10.1 times in 2025, with 183 specialist models deployed and 15.56 million working hours saved. Digital adoption was strongest in corporate banking: online channels handled 97.72% of financing and 86.62% of foreign-exchange transactions, while the bank’s AI-powered assistant Xiao Zhao served 267,100 corporate customers. This combination of high-volume digital infrastructure and practical cross-border execution gave GBA customers faster access to banking, investment and financing services across mainland China and Hong Kong.
