The remittances market is too big to ignore, but with more providers entering the market and with banks struggling to respond to new regulations, how can banks stay relevant?

Mobile money, including banking and payments, is encroaching into the everyday life of the consumer. Monetising the business is still proving difficult, but thanks to the abundance of products available already, tangible business models are slowly emerging.

As consumer spending increasingly moves to online, so too do payments, with digital wallets becoming embedded in the payments culture with the aim of making online transactions both convenient and secure. 

Near-field-communication technology for mobile payments has seen huge investment and been much feted, but is yet to take off in the mainstream. What will it take for consumers to take to this new way of paying for their purchases?

Personalised and location-based marketing tactics could be a catalyst for higher usage of mobile payments and could, in turn, unlock new business approaches. 

Taiwan's rising prominence as an offshore renminbi centre reached a milestone earlier this year when the Bank of China opened a clearing bank in Taipei. But with Hong Kong, and to a lesser extent London and Singapore, already working as offshore renminbi hubs, where will Taiwan fit in?

A new prime minister and Bank of Japan governor, both apparently working in concert, could signal sustained weakness for the yen. But there are some tough psychological barriers to breach.