Banking in APAC: Where are the banks and where are they going?

Digital Reinvention
Q+
13/03/2023 Interview
profile picture of Zennon Kapron Zennon Kapron Kapronasia Founder and Director

Asia is attracting a lot of interest from financial services executives as the continent seems to be way ahead of the rest of the world. We asked Zennon Kapron, Founder and Director of Kapronasia, one of Asia's leading providers of financial industry market research, a few questions about what he thought and his views on what Asian bankers are concerned about and where they are headed.


In terms of innovation in financial services, Asian banks seem to have gained a certain lead over banks in the rest of the world. Is this your impression as well? Why do you think that is? 

Asian banks have their work cut out for them in serving retail customers across the region. The Asian population is very digital with nearly 70% of the population on average having a smartphone. This digitization gives customers access to wide range of online financial and non-financial platforms. Increasingly these customers, especially the younger generation, are demanding the same ‘anytime, anywhere’ service they get from their entertainment platforms. Luckily for the banks, financial infrastructure in many countries is quite strong. Nearly every market has a national real-time payment infrastructure and modern digital banking services. That is not to say that banks don’t have competition. Apps like Alipay and WeChat have shown the risks of having a complacent approach to the market, which keeps the banks on their toes and innovating. 

This content is reserved for our members

Join Qorus to keep reading

Related news & insights

Open Finance
31/03/2023 Interview

NewTech Friday: Lyyna Insurance & Financial Services – An innovative B2B2C sales platform for single item insurance

Swiss startup Lyyna Insurance & Financial Services is one of the selected startups of the fourth edition of the LHOFT...

Digital Reinvention
30/03/2023 News

U.S. Bank releases 2023 Payments Transformation Report

Survey of finance leaders finds adoption of payments technology is driving consumer loyalty and business profitability.

SME Banking
30/03/2023 Interview

Reinventing financial services for SMEs: Banca AideXa

We often read that the offers of traditional banks are not adapted enough to SMEs. So, we set out to...

Insurance
30/03/2023 News

Bidmii & Humm launch embedded finance product, Get it Done, Pay Later

Bidmii, a Toronto-based tech start-up revolutionising the home improvement industry, announced the launch of its new embedded financial product, Get...

Digital Reinvention
29/03/2023 Article

Banks finally see innovation as a driver for future revenue

Sarah Kocianski is a fintech and insurtech strategist as well as the leader of the Qorus Open Finance community. She...

Open Finance
29/03/2023 News

Viva Wallet launches pan-European payment solution for e-commerce and shop-in-shop marketplaces

Viva Wallet's end-to-end Marketplace Solution supports payments in 24 European markets and provides all the tools to digitally onboard sellers,...

SME Banking
29/03/2023 Article

Technology startups: A different type of banking customer

It is important for a bank to focus on startup businesses, especially technology startups. Fatih Ogun, Head of Strategy at...

Digital Reinvention
29/03/2023 News

TD launches new accessibility tool to drive inclusive online experiences for users

Created by TD Lab, the new tool, TD Adapted Accessibility allows users to individualize their online experience to address accessibility...