Discontinuity-leading vs profit-pressure: the survival reality of private banks in a dual environment of ice and fire

Private banks are facing a "two-sided" survival landscape: top institutions maintain competitiveness even after proactively lowering deposit rates due to their ecological advantages, while medium and small institutions have to use relatively higher deposit rates to cope with deposit pressure. The differentiation of deposit rates reflects the Matthew effect in the industry. The 2024 performance report shows that WeBank and Ant Bank achieve a leading position in operating income and net profit, while some regional banks face significant profit pressure. Currently, private banks are constrained on both the liability and asset sides: on the liability side, the "high interest rates + online" deposit model is challenged as interest rates decline; on the asset side, they mainly rely on consumer credit and loans to small and micro enterprises, with weak risk resistance. Industry insiders believe that private banks need to explore new survival space in the declining interest rate cycle by deepening vertical areas, strengthening technological empowerment, increasing the proportion of intermediary business, and expanding customer acquisition channels.