Australia holds fourth place, forecast to grow from US$2.2 billion in 2010 to US$2.7 billion.

Indonesia comes in sixth at US$835 million, Hong Kong comes in eighth at US$747 million, Singapore ninth at US$427 million and Malaysia twelfth at US$276 million.

Ovum's figures show that Asia-Pacific investment in technology to allow customers to access banking services via the Internet will experience growth of 39 per cent from 2010 to 2015, to hit US$1.8 billion.

Knapik said there is a strong focus on online platforms and their extension onto mobile devices and tablets, given their ability to service clients at a lower cost.