Staff Reporter
Southeast Asia fintech funding fell 21% in 2025
Southeast Asia fintech funding fell 21% in 2025
This is despite Airwallex and Superbank doing well in their fund raising and IPO.
Taiwan banks add $6.69b loans in November as bad debts tick up
The average NPL ratio is 0.16% with bad loans rising by $0.06b.
Singapore Gulf Bank gains access to J.P. Morgan’s USD clearing network
The bank can receive and credit clients’ incoming funds over weekends and holidays.
Indonesian banks’ credit costs may stay high in 2026 on weather risk
Major banks should still be able to deliver positive earnings growth of 1%-7%.
MUFG Bank sets up structured trade solutions subsidiary in Singapore
It is wholly owned by the Japanese megabank’s consolidated subsidiary.
HSBC nabs Citi Global Wealth COO as new CCO for IWPB business
Valentín Valderrábano will relocate to Hong Kong from New York.
Thailand’s Krungsri names new two new senior executives
Duangdao Wongpanitkrit and Hiroshi Kurihara took over their new roles last 1 January.
Australia’s big four banks loan deferrals, waive fees for bushfire victims
NAB is providing A$1,000 grants and additional financial relief, for example.
Indian banks set to benefit from tighter oversight in 2026
The RBI’s multiple reforms over the next year will allow banks to provision more effectively.
Ant International and Google to soon enable AI checkout in chat
The UCP establishes a common language for agents and systems to operate together.
MUFG invests $4.3b in India’s Shriram Finance
MUFG is subscribing to a preferential allotment of 20% equity shares in the NBFC.
This week in banking: PAO Bank assets surge, Malaysia upgraded by FATF, global bank values climb, HK deposits rise
A new cross-border payment partnership has also been formed.
MUFG deploys real-time anonymization across unstructured data
On-premises processing keeps MUFG data off external clouds
PAObank offers 1% savings boost via Money Safe
Customers can activate the safety feature that protects their deposits until 31 March 2026.
Agentic AI to reshape Asian banking, report says
Agentic and multiagent AI boost banking efficiency and cut costs.
Axis Bank debuts industry-first SMS Shield feature
The Safety Centre also allows customers switch off or restrict specific digital banking functions.
SMBC invests in Rakuten Medical cancer therapy venture
The investment was part of the bank’s social value creation investment fund.
Thought Leadership Centre
Most Read
1. OCBC scales regional SME support with S$25b sustainable finance goal 2. ASIC scam takedowns jump 90% as Australians’ losses hit $2.18b 3. MUFG breaks ground on new HQ with 2030 target completion 4. Standard Chartered unveils first-ever Global Fusion Centre in Malaysia 5. Philippines cash holds 42% of POS payments despite e-wallet riseResource Center
Read Here
Advertise
Sign Up
Events
Event News
Ipsos says lenders financial institutions now compete with best-in-class platforms across all industries
Commentary
Buy now, worry later: The hidden cost of BNPL
Why most banks are struggling with AI, and what the smart ones are doing differently
Data, AI, and trust: The next era of financial crime prevention
From behavioural change to scalable inclusion: Cross-border payments in APAC
Device governance is not an IT problem. For SEA's financial sector, it is a boardroom one
Corporate acupuncture: How precision M&A is reshaping Asia’s competitive edge