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%

The world’s top 10 most profitable banks with assets over $100 billion include four from the Middle East, three from Asia, two from the Americas, and one from Europe

Most of Asia Pacific witnessed a slight slowdown in SME loan growth in 2023, but the regional average increased marginally, led by Australia, while concerns remain over SME loan quality, notably in Thailand

Alipay retains its top spot in this year’s ranking, while Apple Pay climbs higher with its expanded financial services ecosystem

JPMorgan Chase, China Construction Bank, and Emirates NBD claimed leading spots in this year’s ranking, with JPMorgan Chase standing out in retail financial performance and digital customer base

The top 10 digital banks saw revenue grow from $41 billion in 2022 to about $49 billion in 2023

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

US banks’ return on equity declined due to higher loan-loss provisions, while Denmark’s Danske Bank reported the steepest drop, primarily attributed to the Estonia money-laundering case, which resulted in a significant net loss in 2022

China's e-commerce rebounded in 2023, with Pinduoduo's remarkable performance surpassing that of Alibaba and JD.com. Alibaba responded with the 'Year-End Good Price' festival, emphasising a 'low price strategy.'

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

Banks in the Middle East and Asia Pacific showcased outstanding operational efficiency, with Qatari banks achieving exceptional cost-to-income ratios by leveraging superior IT infrastructure, offering cost-effective digital services, and tailoring branch networks to cater to smaller populations

Despite economic challenges and shifting consumer trends, China’s Double 11 sales increased, placing Pinduoduo as a formidable contender in the fiercely competitive e-commerce sector

Four banks in Bangladesh on the TABInsights Bank Watch List reported an average gross NPL ratio of 17.8% in FY2022, while Indian banks demonstrated improved asset quality, with none making the list, highlighting resilience to economic fluctuations

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

Thirty-seven banks held assets surpassing $1 trillion, distributed among 16 in Asia Pacific, 13 in Europe, and eight in North America, representing 51% of the top 1000 banks’ total assets; overall asset growth has decelerated, with the US and some European nations experiencing steep declines and countries like Egypt demonstrating resilience

DBS’s Gupta is the highest-paid bank CEO in Asia Pacific, while Public Bank CEO Tay received the highest compensation as a percentage of net profit, with the combined total earned by the top 10 highest-paid bank chiefs in the region reaching $63.4 million in FY2022, up from $56.5 million in FY2021

North America demonstrated the highest overall strength, followed by Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with all banks in the ranking averaging decline in return on assets from 0.76% to 0.74%, and improved gross non-performing loan ratio from 1.8% to 1.65%

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

The failure of Silicon Valley, Silvergate and Signature banks was caused by asset-liability mismatches, interest rate hikes and insufficient diversification, with many other US banks set to crack

Alipay emerges as the best platform, driven by its impressive performance in coverage, connectivity and ecosystem, while GCash excels in customer base, usage and engagement, and Wise scores on performance

Asia Pacific banking sector delivered better-than-expected profitability and reduced NPLs in FY2021.The strongest banks in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore ranked among the top 10 strongest banks in the region

Asia Pacific banks saw asset growth slow down to 7.9% in FY2021 from 10.7% in FY2020, while 85% of banks posted higher net profit, reflecting economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

Al Rajhi Bank retained the top spot in the rankings of the largest and the strongest Islamic banks in the world. Malaysia had the most Islamic banks on the list, while Saudi Arabia held the largest share of total assets

Saudi National Bank, the third largest bank in the Middle East and Africa, achieved solid profitability. National Bank of Egypt overtook Standard Bank Group as the largest bank in Africa and it fared well in asset quality, capitalisation and liquidity

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Chinese and Japanese banks again dominate the list of The Asian Banker 500 largest banks. Balance sheet growth accelerated in the first half of 2020 and some players are reinforcing their scale and competitiveness through mergers and acquisitions

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Retail asset quality pressure will persist in the Asia Pacific region, due to slower economic growth and worse employment situations. However, the downside risk to banks’ retail asset quality will remain manageable, as regulators and banks continue their efforts to better manage credit risk.

Most Asia Pacific markets have witnessed a slowdown in unsecured consumer loan growth, as regulations tighten and more alternative lending options are made available to borrowers. To stay relevant, banks are slowly digitising the business while also closely monitoring credit quality.

Asia Pacific markets have seen a shift towards digital banking during the past few years. Nowadays, banks are placing more effort on mobile banking, such as improving security and convenience of their applications and enhance the user experience to drive engagement in the channel.

Composition of retail banking assets among Asia Pacific countries shows that mature markets have a higher average share of mortgages in retail lending than emerging markets, while banks in emerging markets have expanded their mortgage lending at a stronger pace.

Banks are expected to see continued growth in auto lending due to economic development but growth will be dampened by the rise of ride-sharing services.

The gross retail banking income for the entire region will grow by 8% by the end of 2017 after showing a year-on-year growth of 7.5% in 2016 and 10% in 2015.

New payment options in the market are creating new opportunities, making competition fiercer, and reducing the use of cash and cheques.

Despite considerable variations within the Middle East and Africa, the banking sector as a whole achieved good financial performance in 2014

Asia Pacific markets have seen a shift towards digital banking during the past few years. Nowadays, banks are placing more effort on mobile banking, such as improving security and convenience of their applications and enhance the user experience to drive engagement in the channel.