Commercial banks such as DBS Bank and traditional exchanges such as the Singapore Exchange have one thing in common: they are setting up and adding digital exchanges and platforms to their existing business lines.

The rapid transformation of domestic and cross-border payments brings new opportunities and challenges for financial institutions.Amid shrinking payment margins, players are rethinking their business models to better monetise data insights and integrate financing options such as “buy now, pay later” (BNPL). Industry experts share their views on the impact of this changing landscape, emerging value propositions, and key technology enablers for future growth

The inaugural BankQuality™ Consumer Survey and Rankings in the Middle East interviewed 3,000 customers in three key markets in the region on their engagement, experience and satisfaction with their main retail banks.

Tech giants, which make up some of the world’s largest companies, are muscling into traditional banking spaces. But whether they want to crush the traditional finance players or enable them, they are learning across the globe that disrupting well-regulated banking systems is easier said than done

The German fintech’s dramatic collapse is likely to reshape the payment processing landscape as market rewards players leading innovation and value creation

Several key themes emerged amidst the many discussions by global leaders in payments, including QR code, blockchain, credit card schemes, fintech and data consolidation

While the growth of Alibaba and Alipay as well as Tencent and WeChat pay in China is well known, there have been questions about whether a similar model can succeed outside of China. Local players as well as those Chinese giants themselves are starting to show that a super-app may well succeed in other markets in Asia too.

Digital disruption is rapidly changing the competitive and operating landscape and driving institutions and regulators to adopt opening banking strategies and create API enabled IT architectures.

As trials move into actual implementations, global financial markets and monetary systems will be disrupted and transformed.

Digital currencies are revolutionising global finance and erasing borders, and while DeFi and the creator economy drive privacy-focused systems independent of governments, the narrative centers on traditional finance and DeFi convergence

Al Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia remains the leading global Islamic bank, with Middle Eastern counterparts surpassing Asian ones in scale and profitability, while Asian Islamic banks exhibit stronger asset quality

Financial institutions are swiftly adopting blockchain and cryptocurrencies, catalysing regulatory discussions and heralding a significant shift in the global financial system.