AI boosts productivity but fails to lift revenue for most banks

Three in four global institutions hope to generate additional income from the technology.

About 34% of financial services firms in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are using artificial intelligence (AI) to transform their products, processes and business models, compared with 31% globally, according to Deloitte.

The findings, published in Deloitte’s The State of AI in the Enterprise 2026 report, show that financial institutions in the region are more likely to pursue major changes to their operations rather than make smaller adjustments to existing processes.

Another 41% of APAC financial firms are redesigning key processes around AI, compared with 28% globally.

Meanwhile, 25% of firms in the region reported making little or no changes to their existing processes, below the global figure of 41%.

The findings were based on responses from 91 financial services organisations in APAC and 573 globally.

Deloitte's research also found that 68% of global financial services organisations reported productivity gains from AI adoption.

Amongst four large APAC markets, 66% of organisations reported improved decision-making, whilst 48% recorded lower costs.

Despite these gains, only 18% of financial services organisations globally reported an impact on revenue, although 75% said they hoped to achieve one.

The findings suggest that whilst financial institutions are using AI to improve efficiency and reduce costs, fewer have translated these improvements into revenue growth.

The report also raised the question of whether financial institutions will capture the long-term financial benefits of AI adoption or whether more of that value will go to the technology providers supplying the models they use.