Digital banking is more than just an app: How Cathay United Bank is building a next-generation financial experience

Through CUBE, Cathay United Bank demonstrates that user experience and customer understanding are the true foundations of sustainable growth.

In recent years, digital banking has become a familiar concept across most Asian markets. However, according to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, Senior Executive Vice President of Cathay United Bank, the real differentiator is not how many services a bank can digitize, but how it redefines the financial experience for customers.

Ms. Li-Sin Wu’s presentation centered on the development journey of CUBE, Cathay United Bank’s flagship digital banking brand as a demonstration of a new approach: placing customers at the center, using data as the foundation, and leveraging technology as a tool to empower users.

Digital banking is no longer just a place where customers conduct transactions. It should be a platform where they can better understand their financial situation and feel empowered in every decision they make.

CUBE and the philosophy of empowerment in Digital Banking

According to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, Cathay United Bank does not view CUBE simply as a banking application. From the beginning, CUBE was positioned as a digital brand built around the philosophy of “Cathay United Bank Empower” - empowering customers through digital experiences.

This approach stems from a growing reality: as financial services become increasingly complex, customers are often faced with fragmented experiences, disconnected data, and overwhelming financial decisions. CUBE was designed specifically to address these challenges by integrating accounts, cards, loans, investments, and insurance into a single platform with a flexible and customizable interface tailored to individual needs.

Ms. Li-Sin Wu emphasized that in today’s highly competitive banking landscape, user experience is no longer an added advantage. It is essential for survival. This is also why Cathay United Bank remains committed to a fully personalized customer journey rather than applying personalization only at isolated touchpoints.

User growth driven by a customer-centric strategy

One of the clearest demonstrations of this strategy, according to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, is Cathay United Bank’s digital user growth over the past decade. The number of customers conducting transactions through digital platforms has increased by more than 100% within five years, while monthly active users of the CUBE application have grown ninefold over approximately 8 years.

What is particularly notable is that this growth did not come from short-term promotional campaigns or a race to add features. Instead, it resulted from continuously improving the core customer experience and making everyday financial activities simpler, faster, and more relevant to each individual user.

We believe sustainable growth only happens when customers truly feel that the banking application understands them and supports them over the long term.

Data-Driven Personalization: From wealth management to spending behavior

During her presentation, Ms. Li-Sin Wu dedicated significant attention to the role of data within Cathay United Bank’s digital banking strategy. According to her, data only becomes meaningful when it is transformed into useful financial insights for customers, rather than serving solely the bank’s internal objectives.

CUBE provides users with a comprehensive overview of their assets, credit card spending analysis, payment schedules, and cash flow, all presented in a visual and easy-to-understand format. One particularly notable initiative is the personalized annual financial report, where transaction data is transformed into a narrative about each customer’s “financial lifestyle.”

According to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, this storytelling approach has created a strong level of engagement, as customers not only review their own reports but are also willing to share them on social media, generating organic reach and interaction.

Data should not make customers feel monitored. It should help them better understand themselves.

Generative AI and enhances conversational banking experiences

Another major highlight of the presentation was Cathay United Bank’s application of generative AI within the CUBE Search Bar. According to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, instead of requiring customers to navigate complicated menus, the bank chose to allow AI to understand users’ questions, contexts, and actual needs.

The CUBE Search Bar does more than simply answer questions and it guides customers toward the right service at the right moment. This opens up a new interaction model in which the bank evolves closer to becoming a personal financial assistant rather than merely a transactional platform.

Security as part of the experience, not a burden

According to Ms. Li-Sin Wu, personalization and AI can only be effective when customers genuinely trust the digital platform.

For this reason, Cathay United Bank has made significant investments in multilayered security solutions, including abnormal behavior detection, two-factor authentication, and in-app “security health” assessments within CUBE.

Notably, the bank has also introduced account security insurance, providing financial support to customers in cases of fraud. This reflects a broader shift in mindset: rather than placing the full responsibility of protection on customers, the bank actively shares both responsibility and risk.

Vietnam and Cathay’s new perspective on successful Digital Banking

From the perspective of the Vietnamese market, Ms. Li-Sin Wu’s insights are particularly meaningful as local banks enter a deeper stage of competition around digital banking, artificial intelligence, and data. Technology infrastructure is no longer the primary barrier. Instead, customer experience, personalization, and trust have become the long-term challenges.

The CUBE model demonstrates that to move further, digital banking in Vietnam must go beyond the mindset of “adding more features” and instead focus on building a financial ecosystem that genuinely understands users while ensuring safety and transparency in data utilization.

Through the story behind CUBE’s development, Ms. Li-Sin Wu delivered a clear and consistent message: the digital bank of the future should not be measured by the number of services it offers or how advanced its technology may be, but by how deeply it understands and protects customers in every financial decision.

A successful digital bank is one that makes customers feel secure, empowered, and supported - not controlled.