In Focus
Singapore's big 3 banks pivot to wealth as margins shrink
Singapore's big 3 banks pivot to wealth as margins shrink
The banks eye growth in onshore, ASEAN, China and Hong Kong wealth.
Malaysia e-wallet ownership drops to 1.5 wallets per user
Less frequent usage rose with 24% paying through wallets every one to three months.
Chinese megabanks’ assets grow 16% as Japan and India stalls
Singaporean banks’ assets also logged double-digit growth in 2025.
IoT payments to grow 24% in APAC fintech
Southeast Asian markets made up around 25% of regional fintech activity.
Philippine bank lending surges 11.7% to $281b by end-2025
Loan loss coverage ratio coverage is 97.2%.
Asia fintech share stalls at 20%
The US accounted for 47% of global fintech deals in Q1 2026.
Malaysia's Q1 loan growth set to stall as businesses turn cautious
Banks’ loan loss provisioning is also expected to rise between $203.82m to 1b in Q1 2026F.
Only 2 in 5 small businesses use instant payments for refunds
Global Payments says gig pay usage reaches 63% amongst APAC businesses.
Standard Chartered and A*STAR lab to boost wealth, battle fraud.
The $11.7m tie-up with A*STAR brings together 10 A*STAR researchers to explore wealth support and fraud control.
How Thailand card payments market will hit $99b in 2030
GlobalData projects the market to reach about $68.1b in 2026.
How can Thai banks close the gap in wealth fee income?
KBank and SCB are best placed in wealth services with digital tools and segmentation.
Nonbank finance, AI and war top APAC financial institutions’ risks in 2026
A protracted war could raise their credit losses by 25% or $180b, S&P warned.
Hong Kong cards push cash aside in $175b market
Card payment value grew at a 7.6% CAGR from 2021 to 2025.
APAC payments forecast hits $24t by 2033
The region is projected to capture 36% of worldwide outbound flows.
HitPay eyes bigger share of traveller payments via QR
Borderless QR lets tourists pay in home wallets with local settlement.
Korea bank loan growth stalls in Q1 as household lending shrinks
Corporate lending drove bank loans in Q1 2026.
Asia fintech hits $1.7b as global investment slump deepens
Region closed 150 transactions placing third behind US and Europe.
Commentary
Asia is leading payments modernisation and banks can't afford to fall behind
Investing in an inefficient market
Platinum cards, paper-thin compliance?
Energy price volatility highlights structural gaps for managing FX risk in APAC
Asia’s electronic markets reach an inflection point of transformation
Tokenisation in the Philippines: The consumer is ready, but is the infrastructure?