In Focus

Thailand braces for fresh wave of bad loans as property market cools

Thailand braces for fresh wave of bad loans as property market cools

Retail mortgage NPLs account for 16.6% of systemic bad loans and 25.9% of total loans.

In Focus

Taiwanese banks clamp down on Chinese exposure in hunt for fatter margins

Mainland credit exposure has dropped since Q3 2018 and is likely to remain flat in 2019.

In Focus

Singapore banks grapple with tepid margins in 2019

Net interest margins are set to rise by 3-5bp.

In Focus

Japanese banks heighten riskier lending to offset profit crunch

Lending to small enterprises is on a steady rise since 2013.

In Focus

Philippine banks can weather their largest corporate default

The combined loan exposure of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin to its five creditors is at $412m.

In Focus

Looming loan slowdown threatens Malaysian banks' 2019 earnings

Lending is tipped to moderate to 5.1% in 2019 from 5.6% in 2018.

In Focus

China's fintech ecosystem is scaling faster than the US and Europe

Outside of China, fintechs are only able to disrupt one vertical unlike Alipay or WeChat Pay.

In Focus

India's weakened banking sector awaits stronger credit growth as it tucks bad loans away

From 4.7% in end-2016, loans booked double-digit growth of 14.9% in November.

In Focus

Global wealth managers double down to capture Asia's tech-savvy crazy rich millennials

Innovative fintechs are filling in gaps in order to meet the complex digital demands of this booming client base.

In Focus

Asian banks rev up fintech partnerships to keep China's tech titans at bay

Incumbents are launching VC arms and innovation labs to avoid being outpaced.

In Focus

Vietnamese banks cash in on $44b consumer finance market

The pivot to retail has boosted NIMs, loan growth and operational efficiency.

In Focus

Small Chinese banks struggle to strike balance between curbing risk and lending

Megabanks have easier access to funding and have more stable asset quality.

In Focus

Banks are putting up a fight against China's tech titans

Although the amount of nonbank third-party payment skyrocketed 480% from 2014-2017, mobile payments by banks rose by 798% over the same period.

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Singapore still beats Hong Kong over Asia's open banking readiness crown

DBS and OCBC are regional leaders in fintech and innovation.

In Focus

Hong Kong makes huge headway in realising smart banking ambitions

It rolled out a real-time fund transfer system, open API guidelines, virtual banks authorisation in 2018 alone.

In Focus

How Bank Muamalat Indonesia used smart mapping technology to optimise its branch and ATM network

The bank enhanced 64% of its ATM's cost and acquired 10% more customers with 40% less branches.

In Focus

Vietnamese banks' war against bad debt pays off

Lower credit costs lifted average operating profit/risk weighted assets from 1.6% in 2017 to 2.2% in H1 2018.

In Focus