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South Korean incumbent banks’ profits at risk as Kakao Bank expand loan services
South Korean incumbent banks’ profits at risk as Kakao Bank expand loan services
The internet-only bank plans to launch mortgages and merchant loan products.
SEA named world’s fastest-growing mobile wallet region
The number of active mobile wallets is expected to reach 439.7 million by 2025.
Malaysia’s Public Bank offers 6-month moratorium to customers
This is in line with the Pemulih stimulus package announced by the government.
Citi APAC pilots program to help young social entreps scale up their operations
They studied ways to expand to new markets, and refined marketing and growth strategies, amongst others.
Standard Chartered, Cathay, Mastercard launch new credit cards
The credit cards will allow faster earning of Asia Miles and will also provide other privileges.
SFC, Canadian securities partner in strengthening fintech cooperation
The SFC and their Canadian counterparts agreed to draft a fintech cooperation framework.
Chart of the Week: Philippine card payments market value to grow to $43.4b in 2021
Debit cards dominate in the Philippines with 90.6 million in circulation.
MAS, France complete wholesale cross-border payment experiment using CBDC
It simulated cross-border transactions involving multiple CBDCs on a common network.
J.P. Morgan boss predicts banks’ trading slump gone after pandemic: report
But shareholders may not share the same optimism once they see investment banks’ Q2 results.
South Korea mulls normalizing eased rules on banks’ FX derivatives: report
The country relaxed rules in March amidst a severe dollar crunch.
Hong Kong banks’ credit losses to revert to pre-COVID levels before end-2022
The increase in credit losses in 2020 was manageable compared globally.
Citi names Varun Matta as TMT investment banking head for ASEAN
Matta will be a managing director and will also cover some sponsor clients for the region.
Refinitiv launches electronic trading service in Indonesia
This is the country’s first interbank electronic marketplace for the trading of rupiah.
Real-time payment ties cash as preferred payment method in SEA markets
Three in five consumers from four markets name it as their favoured way of paying.
Citi APAC raises record $25b in sustainable funds for clients in H1 2021
Amongst the transactions is Alibaba Group’s $5b four-part offering in February.
HKMA, Hong Kong banks warn public against phishing attacks
Phishing emails and messages detected in the first half were 145% higher.
What does ‘gold standard’ mean for Asia’s payments and e-commerce scene?
The market’s diverse challenges open the door for solutions that tackle country or region-specific issues.
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1. Asia plays part in $129t global credit market pool 2. HSBC and EPAA launch agentic payments working group 3. UOB upgrades 300,000 Visa cards to new premium tiers across ASEAN 4. UOB Private Bank names Judy Chan as Hong Kong managing director 5. Western Union rewrites remittance playbookResource Center
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Asia plays part in $129t global credit market pool
How alternative data lending is reaching Southeast Asia's unscored MSMEs
Asia is leading payments modernisation and banks can't afford to fall behind