In Focus

Hong Kong banks urged to deepen family office offer as new wealth surges

Nearly half of family offices set up in the last 5 years are new.

Trade easing and AI demand lift Hong Kong banks' H2 outlook

Banks should monitor real estate exposure as property softness persists.

APAC banks hit by 92% of network attacks as fintech risk grows

Real-time payments and mobile services have expanded the number of exposed endpoints.

How could China's investment curbs shift wealth between Singapore and Hong Kong?

Rules taking effect on 1 July allow reviews of deals tied to national security.

Malaysian banks likely to hike dividends despite rising bad loan threat

They have adequate earnings and capital buffers to withstand NPL shocks.

Why South Korea cards squeeze cash payments

GlobalData says bank access and merchant acceptance are keeping electronic transactions ahead.

Why AI tools won't deliver value to banks without culture change

Two CEOs told McKinsey they spent heavily on AI tools that saw low usage.

APAC travellers rank payment security as top concern, Visa says

Card acceptance followed at 27% as more travellers brought cards and mobile wallets.

Stablecoins move into payment infrastructure

Visa says trust remains key to adoption.

Financial services insider costs hit $23.1m as shadow AI spreads

The sector ranked third amongst industries and exceeded the $19.5m global average.

Chinese banks mask capital weakness with government injections

One-off government support does not address banks’ lower profitability and asset quality issues.

New China rules no threat to Singapore banks' wealth businesses: Maybank

Singapore banks do not serve the investor segment most affected by the changes.

How bigger deals pushed financial services acquisitions to $499b

Global transactions reached 612 in 2025 compared with 605 in 2024.

Singapore banks face currency split as ringgit offsets losses

DBS is most exposed to IDR and INR, whilst the ringgit cushions OCBC and UOB.

Philippine account ownership sinks as microfinance access weakens

E-money wallets stayed at 36% whilst bank access held at 23%.