As demand for sustainable products rises, stakeholders including consumers, investors, and regulators are pushing manufacturers, suppliers and lenders to incorporate ESG metrics in evaluating the performance of their supply chains.

As real-time processing becomes the norm in domestic payments, how long would it take for cross-border payments to catch up?

Global and regional cash management banks across Asia-Pacific are making substantial investments in digital initiatives to enhance the overall transaction experience of their clients.

The Asia Pacific banking sector will benefit from the improving global and regional economic conditions in 2018. Overall, better asset quality is expected, and banks will maintain relatively stable profitability and capitalisation. Nevertheless, there are growing concerns over the potential asset price corrections, high private debt, and geopolitical risks.

The Asia Pacific banking industry will continue to see a rise in demand and salary among highly skilled technical workers in the backdrop of ongoing digitalisation.

New players and technologies continue to drive change in the transaction banking space in Asia Pacific, causing incumbent banks to focus more on improving customer experience and reviewing existing business models.

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.

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.

Central banks worldwide increasingly recognise the benefits of wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDCs) in making remittances and other cross-border transactions cheaper, faster and safer. Pilot projects set in motion seek to identify opportunities and risks as well as explore the possibility of having shared infrastructure to automate cross-border payments, foreign exchange and settlements.

The Asian Banker’s survey across financial institutions (FIs) in seven countries in Asia reveals emerging trends in cybersecurity risks and fraud, pressing challenges and technology areas prioritised.

BoA, UOB and Deutsche Bank are the winning transaction banks in Asia Pacific in The Asian Banker Best Transaction Bank Rankings 2023, with leading positions in customer experience, technology and innovation, and digital capabilities

With a large portion of Africa’s population still lacking access to traditional banking services, particularly in places banks fear to tread, payment providers have stepped into the breach, gaining in popularity for offering services beyond the usual payments, money transfer and savings

Transaction banks in the Middle East are expanding services in non-oil businesses with high growth potential, in line with economic diversification, and to mitigate geopolitical instability in countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council

The majority of institutions surveyed attribute their increased Renminbi usage to China’s investments and partnerships facilitated by the Belt and Road Initiative

The global use of Renminbi is influenced by geopolitics, macroeconomic conditions, infrastructure, and technology

A prominent player in Southeast Asia’s digital finance sector, the group saw significant growth in 2023, cutting losses by 29% despite a challenging economic environment

Surveyed institutions continue to adopt RMB in cross-border trade, driven by cost benefits and foreign exchange risk management