The Middle East and Africa lead in bank profitability, benefiting from considerable non-interest-bearing deposits and elevated oil prices in the Middle East, along with high interest rates and foreign exchange gains in Africa, according to the TAB Global 1000 Strongest Banks Ranking.

Bank boards globally lack enough technology experts to influence strategy decisions, though North American banks are better at integrating such experts into their boards

From 2019 to 2023, the share of consumer finance relative to total retail lending declined in Hong Kong and South Korea, but increased significantly in the Philippines.

South American banks led with the highest average loan-to-deposit ratio at 109%, followed by Europe at 96%, with around 50% of South American and 42% of European banks with ratios exceeding 100%

Philippine digital banks saw rapid growth in 2023 alongside mounting concerns over credit quality as gross NPL ratios soared

Rising borrowing costs, reduced demand, and stringent credit barriers have dampened growth prospects, and these factors are unlikely to shift given the current economic climate

In 2023, China’s domestic systemically important banks grew to 20, led by China Merchants Bank in the TAB Global 1000 World’s Strongest Banks 2023 ranking, but some still require more capital despite improved capital ratios

While India led in fintech funding between 2020 and 2022, Singapore outpaced India in the first half of 2023, driven by the digital lending and insurtech segments

Despite efforts to cap financial sector pay, 17 out of the 25 largest commercial banks in China saw a rise in average remuneration for their directors, supervisors and other senior executives in 2022

Softening bank loan growth in some markets but Asia Pacific expected to sustain momentum in 2023 with post-COVID-19 recovery in China boosting lending demand

Regulators in African countries are exploring the role of open banking in financial services. This push is reflected by the diverse opportunities that open banking can provide to financial services and end-customers.

Alternative credit is flourishing in Thailand as big technology platforms fill in the lending gaps left by traditional financial institutions. Known for fast and efficient end-to-end services, these challengers are drawn to the country because of the large market for unsecured lending and higher profit potential.

The rapid digitalisation of MSMEs, emergence of new digital-native business models and niche segments have become a key focus area for financial technology companies to serve.

Banks have not experienced a significant deterioration in asset quality of their MSME exposure, supported by various policy measures. An uptick in the non-performing small business loans is expected with the expiry of these measures.

The weak sales growth for this year’s Double 11 shopping festival was largely driven by the depressed consumer sentiment and logistical disruptions under the zero-COVID policy, along with the regulatory scrutiny.

DBS CEO Piyush Gupta, Public Bank CEO Tay Ah Lek and UOB CEO Wee Ee Cheong are the top three highest-paid bank chief executives in Asia Pacific in FY 2021. The combined total remuneration eared by the top ten reached $56.5 million in FY 2021, up from $53.6 million in FY 2020

Despite the impressive figures, the banking industry has been slow in partnering with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative to set, implement and achieve its sustainability goals. The industry’s response to the climate change crisis is neither proactive nor pre-emptive. The vast majority of the estimated 25,000 licensed banks remain outside.

Tay Ah Lek saw a 6.5% rise in total remuneration to $9.2 million in 2020 despite the pandemic, which was 250 times the average pay Public Bank’s employees received.

Indian banks still dominate the list of the top 10 banks with the highest nonperforming loan (NPL)ratio among the 500 largest banks in Asia Pacific, despite the improved asset quality. In addition, the list also includes two banks from Bangladesh and one each from China, Japan, and Pakistan.

Some countries in Asia Pacific posted stronger growth in bank lending to small businesses between 2019 and 2021 as compared to the period from 2017 to 2019

Qatar Islamic Bank is the most efficient bank in the Middle East and Africa, emerging first among the largest 100 banks in the MEA 200 rankings in 2021. Notably, five of the 10 banks on the list are Qatar banks due to their emphasis on digital transformation.

Hong Kong's banking industry has remained resilient amid the pandemic, and its retail banking sector is expected to grow slowly but steadily until 2023.

All the top 10 most efficient banks in Asia Pacific are from China. Bank of Shanghai is the most efficient in the region, followed closely by Bank of Tianjing and, Bank of Beijing.

Banks in most Asian markets booked lower provisions to cover potential loan losses as economies recover, which has contributed to the improved profitability in 1H 2021

Ethereum, Terra and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the top three largest DeFi blockchain networks, represented 76.5% of all DeFi activity. Ethereum is facing stiff competition from other DeFi blockchains and is moving to Ethereum 2.0.

China is cracking down on big techs’ monopoly in financial data to curb abuses of power and protect consumers’ privacy, according to the country’s banking and insurance watchdog.

In the recently released Global Fintech Hub Report 2021, Beijing was named the best fintech hub, followed by San Francisco, New York, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and London.

The number of unicorns has increased dramatically amid a surge in venture capital investments, making 2021 a record year for privately held startup companies achieving unicorn status.

China’s pilot of the central bank digital currency has made promising progress. However, the digital RMB system collects and shares less transaction information than traditional electronic payments according to a PBOC digital RMB white paper.

In June 2021, Chinese ride hailing giant Didi and digital freight platform Full Truck Alliance made their debuts in the US amid the volatile initial public offering (IPO) environment.

Some companies have acquired cryptocurrencies for their corporate treasuries despite the volatility. MicroStrategy, the public company that holds the most bitcoin on the balance sheet, remains bullish on bitcoin.

Standard Bank of South Africa gained market share in home loans, while FirstRand Bank only grew its home loans by 0.2%

Crypto markets have seen recent spikes and increased volatility as more mainstream companies and speculators continue to join the digital asset trading and investment bandwagon. The impressive rise of other cryptocurrencies beside Bitcoin has dented its market dominance.

Chinese banks well positioned on this year’s strongest banks ranking while performance varied by categories

Provincial banks accounted 9 out of 10 on the list

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted substantial impact on the profitability of banks in Asia Pacific, although most are better positioned to weather this crisis than during the global financial crisis

In addition to leading their institutions to support customers and communities, some bank bosses are also taking pay cuts or making charitable donations to support the fight against the COVID-19

Digital banks in Asia Pacific witnessed improving overall profitability in FY2019. Although some digital banks’ net profit in FY2020 has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, their growth outlook remains optimistic.

The US Net International Investment Position (NIIP) has posted a deteriorating trend for over a decade now, raising concerns of the financial condition and creditworthiness of the US as a habitual debtor nation

Countries are eager to strike a balance between mitigating the economic damage from lockdowns and keeping the coronavirus outbreak under control.

With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, many people are staying at home and doing their shopping through mobile phones and computers. As a result, e-commerce and cashless payments have seen growth and spread further across different markets.

The hiring activity in the banking and financial services market will be driven by factors such as continuous digital transformation, new regulations and the issuance of digital banking licences

The market for charitable giving is evolving like other forms of commerce and establishing a firm digital presence

Vietnam is likely to emerge as a significant consumer-driven market, placing it in the Asian consuming class of Indonesia and the Philippines with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita between $2,800-$3,500 by 2020, in which mass automobile ownership takes off.

Big four banks to tidy up various messes coming from renewed pressure from regulators

ING and Suncorp emerge as victors from the fallout in regards to net promoter score while smaller banks are in danger to lose the most with the entry of new players in the market.

Australian households are struggling with the record amount of outstanding debt, and the sliding housing market fuels concerns over shrinking economic growth in the country. In addition, the rapid build-up of household debt in China continues to attract attention

Asian stock markets attracted less investible funds in 2018 and more went into bond markets, banking institutions and managed funds

Overall economic growth prospects for the Africa region are favourable. Most banks will raise capital base and maintain stable profitability, but weak asset quality will remain a key concern

In the Asia Pacific region, skilled and experienced tech professionalsand regulatory compliance specialists will find themselves well-positioned in the banking and financial services market

These are the leading countries where new payment options are creating new opportunities and disrupting the incumbents

Retail banking sector has been the main growth driver for Indian banking sector during the past few years, as banks’ exposure to corporate banking sector has been reduced due to bad loans problems. Their retail lending has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2% over the FY2013 to FY2018 period, making India's retail banking one of the biggest among emerging markets.

As the race towards digitalisation intensifies, the relationship between banks and “big tech” companies is increasingly marked by collaboration and synergy, not just competition

Chinese banks’ mortgage loan growth dropped the most in 2017 and will continue to be affected by property cooling measures and relatively tight liquidity conditions. Hong Kong banks’ mortgage loan growth, on the other hand, increased, but they are not expected to maintain it due to tough operating conditions.

Technological disruption is reshaping the payment landscape, creating a tight mobile wallet business environment. Banks must reshape their strategies that will help enhance their competitiveness in this market.

Digital-only banks pose serious challenges to the traditional financial services industry with their entirely new banking experience. However, for most of them, licensing, scale and profitability are the three key issues they must face going forward.

Household indebtedness has been on the rise, which is putting future economic growth and financial stability in jeopardy. Thus, many central banks have unveiled measures to curb high household debt. In Asia Pacific, Australia and South Korea are facing the most serious household debt problems.

Increased utilisation of financial technology is setting the stage for further digitisation of the Philippine’s consumer banking industry, which is slowly transitioning into a “cash-lite” economy.

The Top 100 banks in consumer banking in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa is the result of The Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Programme, the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent audit programme for consumer banking.

Piyush Gupta, chief executive officer of DBS Singapore, received the highest remuneration among bank CEOs in the Asia Pacific region in 2016, while top executives of many Chinese banks had high reductions in their compensations.