Despite weak growth in the banking industry last year, UOB managed to grow its SME deposits significantly and reported the lowest CIR among its peers. It was also the first bank to announce $2.2 billion in relief assistance in February 2020, ahead of any government support measures. It was the leading provider in government’s assistance schemes to SMEs with the largest market share.

Industry practitioners discuss how process of bringing offshore global supply chains back to the country of origin accelerates demand for existing and new financing programmes that provide liquidity for sub-tier level of suppliers

Africa’s payments services are rapidly growing, driven by concerted efforts between mobile money operators, banks and fintech as well as regulatory drives to implement real time payment systems, while rise in mobile money accounts and fintech threatens to make traditional bank account services irrelevant.

While fintechs may take some market share away in specific niches, the partnerships, analytics, and value-add that leading banks are developing can keep head of the game. Banks that fail to keep up could lose a significant share of their SME business

A renewed push to provide end-to-end supply chain financing solutions is driving trade finance across Asia Pacific.

The last four years have been considered the worst for Thai banks in retail banking. Despite a meagre income and loan growth, banks have been working hard to improve operating efficiencies, re-balance portfolios, and build digital platforms to support the country’s next phase in e-payments, internet financing and micro lending.

Economies of scale, profitability, and developing a comprehensive service proposition remain major challenges in Vietnam’s growing retail banking industry. A long-term sustainable future will depend on how banks execute a right risk-reward balance

The gross retail banking income for the entire region will grow by 8% by the end of 2017 after showing a year-on-year growth of 7.5% in 2016 and 10% in 2015.

Fintech, the latest buzzword in the peer-to-peer lending sector, has carved a niche for itself in a short span of time. As banks tighten their seat belts for the new-age disruption, they are showing strong affinity towards collaboration with the marketplace lenders to secure their customer proposition.

DBS Group’s retail and wealth business has been accelerating income generation since 2013. However, the bank continues to face an uphill struggle with some of its overseas retail markets.

As the search for efficiency intensifies amid a slowdown in economic growth, banks continue to leverage technology to relieve cost pressures and provide increasingly complex working capital solutions that their clients demand.

De-risking has proved to be more than the exiting of businesses for Asia Pacific’s trade finance industry. A strategic shift is underway which might just change the nature of trade finance for years to come.

The advent of new technologies is driving rapid upgrading of national payment systems around the world that are enabled with rich data and real-time capabilities.

The Asian Banker recently updated the bank profile of Vietnam Prosperity Bank Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank).

Regulators in Asia Pacific such as Indonesia's OJK are actively planning for measures to promote the growth of fintech in the region.

While crowdlending in Asia Pacific shows early promise, its fate will be dictated by how regulators and banks respond to the challenges they pose.

State enterprises form one of the largest customer segments of Krung Thai Bank. But this does not confine the bank, as it enters the nongovernment retail deposit market driven by a mix of competitive pricing and products, process innovation, and a strong branch network.

Banks have not experienced a significant deterioration in asset quality of their MSME exposure, supported by various policy measures. An uptick in the non-performing small business loans is expected with the expiry of these measures.

The rapid digitalisation of MSMEs, emergence of new digital-native business models and niche segments have become a key focus area for financial technology companies to serve.

The combined revenue of the top 100 global digital-only banks increased by 16% to reach some $66 billion, with China’s WeBank, Ally Bank from the US, and the retail arm of ING Group in the lead in 2023

The current disintermediation in payments and MSME lending marks the tip of the iceberg, and retail deposits may be the next battleground

Trade finance is gradually digitalising amid evolving e-commerce models, driven by technology and sustainability; the $2.5 trillion global trade finance gap affecting SMEs prompts innovation in blockchain, tokenisation, and sustainability, despite geopolitical complexities

Alipay retains its top spot in this year’s ranking, while Apple Pay climbs higher with its expanded financial services ecosystem

Most of Asia Pacific witnessed a slight slowdown in SME loan growth in 2023, but the regional average increased marginally, led by Australia, while concerns remain over SME loan quality, notably in Thailand