Standard Bank of South Africa gained market share in home loans, while FirstRand Bank only grew its home loans by 0.2%
Standard Bank of South Africa gained market share in home loans, while FirstRand Bank only grew its home loans by 0.2%
Crypto markets have seen recent spikes and increased volatility as more mainstream companies and speculators continue to join the digital asset trading and investment bandwagon. The impressive rise of other cryptocurrencies beside Bitcoin has dented its market dominance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted substantial impact on the profitability of banks in Asia Pacific, although most are better positioned to weather this crisis than during the global financial crisis
Chinese and Japanese banks again dominate the list of The Asian Banker 500 largest banks. Balance sheet growth accelerated in the first half of 2020 and some players are reinforcing their scale and competitiveness through mergers and acquisitions
In addition to leading their institutions to support customers and communities, some bank bosses are also taking pay cuts or making charitable donations to support the fight against the COVID-19
Digital banks in Asia Pacific witnessed improving overall profitability in FY2019. Although some digital banks’ net profit in FY2020 has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, their growth outlook remains optimistic.
Countries are eager to strike a balance between mitigating the economic damage from lockdowns and keeping the coronavirus outbreak under control.
The hiring activity in the banking and financial services market will be driven by factors such as continuous digital transformation, new regulations and the issuance of digital banking licences
Australian households are struggling with the record amount of outstanding debt, and the sliding housing market fuels concerns over shrinking economic growth in the country. In addition, the rapid build-up of household debt in China continues to attract attention
While the growth of Alibaba and Alipay as well as Tencent and WeChat pay in China is well known, there have been questions about whether a similar model can succeed outside of China. Local players as well as those Chinese giants themselves are starting to show that a super-app may well succeed in other markets in Asia too.
Asian stock markets attracted less investible funds in 2018 and more went into bond markets, banking institutions and managed funds
Overall economic growth prospects for the Africa region are favourable. Most banks will raise capital base and maintain stable profitability, but weak asset quality will remain a key concern