The Asia Pacific banking sector will benefit from the improving global and regional economic conditions in 2018. Overall, better asset quality is expected, and banks will maintain relatively stable profitability and capitalisation. Nevertheless, there are growing concerns over the potential asset price corrections, high private debt, and geopolitical risks.

The Asia Pacific banking industry will continue to see a rise in demand and salary among highly skilled technical workers in the backdrop of ongoing digitalisation.

New players and technologies continue to drive change in the transaction banking space in Asia Pacific, causing incumbent banks to focus more on improving customer experience and reviewing existing business models.

As the search for efficiency intensifies amid a slowdown in economic growth, banks continue to leverage technology to relieve cost pressures and provide increasingly complex working capital solutions that their clients demand.

State enterprises form one of the largest customer segments of Krung Thai Bank. But this does not confine the bank, as it enters the nongovernment retail deposit market driven by a mix of competitive pricing and products, process innovation, and a strong branch network.

Transaction banks in the Middle East are expanding services in non-oil businesses with high growth potential, in line with economic diversification, and to mitigate geopolitical instability in countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council