Airstar Bank honoured at Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025

The Hong Kong-based digital bank was awarded for its efforts in driving innovation in digital banking.

Airstar Bank ("The Bank") emerged as the recipient of the Service Innovation of the Year - Hong Kong accolade at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025 in recognition of its user-centric solutions. 

With a focus on constantly evolving products and services to meet market needs and technological progress, Airstar Bank has implemented a number of creative efforts in its products and services during this year.

By the end of 2024, the bank launched Hong Kong's first customisable Visa Platinum card. Cardholders can choose from seven exclusive card designs, including the debut of Futubull, the iconic mascot of Futu Securities. Without much promotion, the debit card was met with enthusiastic market response upon its launch. The number of activated cards surged to nearly 1,000 on the first day of issuance and was on track to surpass 3,000 within 48 hours. Unlike traditional cards, physical cards issued by the digital bank do not show card numbers or CVV to provide cardholders with enhanced security protection. Instead, all details are securely stored in the Airstar app. If a card is lost, users can lock it instantly with the "One-Click Lock Card" feature in the app. 

Furthermore, Airstar Bank successfully migrated the entire operation onto the cloud to facilitate more agility for their digital bank services and operations. The Bank has been operating steadily on the cloud from its inception and anticipates significant optimisation in terms of resource costs and workload, as well as the complexity of infrastructure operations and maintenance. The new core system's flexibility and scalability will also help the bank dynamically adjust resources to meet future business expansion and peak customer flow demands. 

On top of its initiatives, Airstar Bank is also actively contributing to Hong Kong’s FinTech development. In July 2024, this financial institution was one of the first participants to offer fiat reserve bank service in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox. In collaboration with its partners, Airstar Bank is exploring the use of blockchain technology to enhance the efficiency and transparency of cross-border transactions. The Hong Kong government has recently confirmed that the Stablecoins Ordinance will take effect on 1 August 2025, which marks a milestone in facilitating the sustainable development of the stablecoin and digital asset ecosystem in this area.

In September 2024, the Bank joined Phase 2 of the HKMA’s e-HKD Pilot Programme in collaboration with Mastercard and KBank. The team explored the use of e-HKD and tokenised deposits in supply chain finance.

Through continuous innovation in personal and corporate banking, Airstar Bank is reshaping how people and businesses engage with their finances in a digital age.

Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards recognises the outstanding entities in the retail banking landscape and serves as a platform to highlight their innovative solutions, retail products, digital banking breakthroughs, and exceptional customer experiences.

The ABF Retail Banking Awards is presented by Asian Banking & Finance Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be recognised for your company's cutting-edge products, services, and solutions that made a positive impact on your customers, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at [email protected].