In Focus

APAC fintech deals drop to $9.3b in 2025 as private equity hits record low

Venture capital investment for fintechs in the region also fell to its lowest in a decade.
12 hours ago

Japan retail banking to hit $227b by 2033

Market revenue stood at $143.7b in 2024 with 5.2% annual growth projected.
13 hours ago

Indonesia’s Islamic loans to grow 10% but banks capped at 8% market share

Bank Syariah Indonesia (Persero) is likely to remain dominant.
1 day ago

Singapore card payments hit $119.6b in 2025 on SME push and contactless cards

Credit and charge cards made up two-thirds of the value.
1 day ago

How India’s 53% credit-to-GDP ratio exposes a lending gap

Formal borrowing is expanding but still trails the scale of domestic economic activity.
1 day ago

Vietnam banks face credit split as quota phaseout looms and Basel III rolls out

Weaker, capital-constrained banks may struggle to meet regulatory changes.
2 days ago

Malaysia payments flip non-cash as e-wallet usage jumps 14%

Online bank transfers also gained whilst debit and credit cards ranked last amongst users.
2 days ago

How can Indian lenders balance loan growth and risk?

Reforms could help improve efficiency, especially of state banks.
3 days ago

Big borrower default could wipe out a year of SEA bank earnings: S&P

Brunei, the Philippines, and Thailand are the most exposed to loan concertation risk.
3 days ago

Half of APAC banks hit KYC backlog as manual systems fail

In Singapore, nine institutions were fined a combined $21m for anti-money laundering failures.
3 days ago

Indonesia loan demand stagnates as MSME and consumption slumps

Underlying demand for loans remains uneven although liquidity will be abundant, analyst said.
6 days ago

Digital payments clock 13% growth as physical cards retreat

Super-apps reduce dependency on traditional products by bundling diverse financial tools.
6 days ago

India's public banks must cut branches to hit 'world-leading' goal: S&P

Indian PSBs are inefficient due to underutilised and low-yielding branches, an analyst said.

Only 1 in 10 banks see AI returns despite $97b spend by 2027

Data fragmentation and governance uncertainty plague most AI adoptions.

APAC neobanking hits $261b in 2025 as mobile use rises

China and India account for 70% of regional market share.

Payroll drives rural Indonesia banking uptake as digital banks fail to sway users

Digital banks are known but users said there is no difference in app experience.