OPEN the app of almost any bank in Asean, and you will find much the same thing: instant transfers, QR payments, rewards tabs and basic chatbots.
Features that once set a bank apart are now matched within months.
What customers remember is how quickly an account opens, what happens when a payment fails, and whether help is available when needed.
Unlike a product feature, experience depends on data, processes and people working as one.
Banks that treat it as a growth strategy rather than a service function will pull ahead.
Across Asean, core banking products - savings accounts, cards, loans and digital services look increasingly alike.
Twimbit's forthcoming Asean Banking Titans 2026 research benchmarking leading banks across the region finds that on core journeys such as account opening or moving money, top banks are separated by narrow margins.
Product and pricing still matter, but they no longer set banks apart.
Where banks do differ is in what surrounds the product.
Our research finds that digital capability is now the region's strongest foundation, whereas service - how a bank responds, resolves and recovers when something goes wrong - is where it is weakest.
Consistency is harder still. Leadership in account opening rarely carries over to transfers or app usability.
That moves customer experience (CX) beyond a service team or satisfaction score.
When CX shapes which bank customers choose, use and stay with, it becomes a growth strategy.
AI raises the stakes further. Customer-facing AI is increasingly shifting to act - completing steps across onboarding, card servicing, loan enquiries or disputes - moving from response to resolution.
Twimbit's latest AI-CX research reveals that close to US$10 billion was invested in AI for customer experience globally, and is expected to cross US$50 billion by 2030.
But adding AI does not guarantee a great experience.
An AI agent cannot resolve what the organisation has not made resolvable.
If data is fragmented, processes span multiple teams or ownership is unclear, customers still feel the friction.
The question is whether the bank is organised to let AI act usefully, safely and consistently.
The AI-CX research therefore assesses agentic AI maturity alongside orchestration and governance: an agent is only as good as the systems it can work across and the controls around it.
Once AI acts on a customer's behalf, trust becomes more concrete.
It is tested during unrecognised transactions, declined applications, or missing funds.
Our journey analysis shows key gaps - failed transfers often lack a clear explanation, minimal guidance on how to fix a failed identity check, and basic chatbots are slow to hand over to human agents.
Speed matters, but so do clarity, reassurance and accountability.
That makes fraud and scams a customer experience issue as much as a security one.
Explainability, guardrails and access to a person belong in the design from the start, while early governance gives banks the confidence to scale responsibly.
The goal is not maximum automation, but the right automation.
Routine, high-volume interactions are obvious candidates for AI. But complex or emotional moments require human judgement supported by AI insights to unify context and resolve the issue faster.
As banks plan for 2027, four questions deserve clear answers.
Which journeys should be redesigned rather than simply digitised? Where should AI act autonomously? What needs to change in data, processes and ownership?
And where will customers still expect human judgment?
Twimbit will release the findings from its "State of Asean Banking CX 2026" flagship report and recognise leaders in banking experience, AI experience, app experience, onboarding experience, most inclusive banking and digital banks on Oct 27.
*The writer is senior vice president of Twimbit.
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