The Impact of Digital Transformation on Commercial Banks’ Business Performance: An Empirical Study of 39 Listed Commercial Banks

Chinese financial institutions continue to encourage digital transformation in the context of the digital economy, which may impact their operations. This paper analyses the impact of bank digital transformation on operational performance based on the characteristics of the bank’s digital transformation from the surface to the inside, further explores the operation mechanism from the perspective of asset operation efficiency and industry competition, and empirically examines the sample data of 39 listed commercial banks from 2012 to 2021. The findings indicate that digital transformation is beneficial to enhancing bank operational performance, which is influenced by the ownership and location of banks. Digital transformation mainly promotes business performance by increasing the efficiency of bank asset operations. Increased bank competition weakens the impact of digital transformation on business performance. As a result, commercial banks must identify their digital ambitions and improve their digital capabilities by their endowments. The government must strengthen its regulatory framework, data governance, and talent training and retention mechanisms.