Three years after the start of the pandemic, China has dropped its zero-Covid rules and fully reopened its economy. While GDP for 2022 was sluggish, renewed consumer spending forms the basis for recovery in 2023.

As Asia looks towards greater levels of connectivity, banks are struggling to work out how to operate within ever more stringent data protection laws.

The buy now, pay later model has shaken up global e-commerce like no other innovation in recent years.

M&A activity across Asia has been down on 2021’s bumper year, but there are pockets of resilience.

Kimberley Long explores how digital finance and mobile banking are addressing the financial access issues faced by women that incumbent banks cannot reach. 

SCB 10X, the venture investment arm of Siam Commercial Bank, is exploring the developments which could reshape how we do banking. Tai Panich, CEO and chief investment officer of SCB 10X, tells Kimberley Long about her plans. 

The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have delayed the implementation of Basel III in many markets, with push backs from some of the biggest economies. In Asia, as some jurisdictions move ahead, it risks creating an uneven banking sector that the rules sought to avoid. 

While state-owned banks are making the headlines in the country ranking, the city banks are leading the way in performance. 

Nepal’s banks appear resilient to the worst shocks of the pandemic, but there is discontent over a slow to change regulatory system, which is stifling growth.