Retail Finance Weekly: Capital One shifts card spending to Discover’s network, UK proposes opening iPhone contactless payments and GCash parent Mynt lists.

ByteDance, Xiaomi and Ant Group are applying AI to different parts of their commercial ecosystems, from content distribution and connected devices to financial identity and advisory services. The second day of The Asian Banker Beijing AI Innovation Study Tour 2026 examined the implications for banks seeking better customer acquisition, richer transaction information and more scalable financial services.

The opening day of The Asian Banker Beijing AI Innovation Study Tour 2026 examined two challenges in deploying AI across banking: making enterprise data available for timely decisions and securing digital customer interactions. China Construction Bank presented its real-time data warehouse and Digital Brain, while MEGVII demonstrated biometric verification and defences against manipulated identities.

TAB Middle East Weekly Brief: Emirates NBD deploys OpenAI onshore, Dubai Investments plans DIP Holding flotation and Gulf bank profits diverge.

CIMB is building its wealth strategy around longstanding local customer relationships across its core ASEAN markets. Its opportunity is to deepen those relationships through advice, connect customers' personal and business needs across borders, and extend them across generations.

Animoca Brands’ Evan Auyang sees regulated stablecoins connecting Hong Kong’s capital markets to global blockchain liquidity, but tokenised deposits and central bank money offer alternative settlement instruments.

Risk and Capital Weekly Brief: Basel averages systemic bank indicators year-round; Yes Bank’s court ruling and Nordea’s ECB review weigh on bank capital.

Transaction Finance Weekly: Santander and BBVA administer a syndicated loan on blockchain as Visa takes stablecoin prefunding live and Japan’s three megabanks test a yen stablecoin ahead of live transactions.

The Asian Banker Weekly Brief: Despite an upgraded IMF growth outlook, oil-driven inflation, higher yields and an AI-share sell-off are straining markets.

As banks consider digital asset services across several businesses, Talos’s Samar Sen argues that settlement, treasury, staffing and controls are becoming part of decisions previously centred on technology.

Jumio’s Bala Kumar discusses how banks can use previous identity information to reassess risk beyond onboarding and reduce repeated document submission for recognised customers.

TAB China Weekly Brief: China’s latest releases show strong trade alongside weak net household borrowing, while Visa’s clearing approval advances foreign participation in the domestic payments market.

Financial Technology Weekly: Citi reported a 30% reduction in technology vendor spending as AI supported more work in-house, while HKMA explored accountability for banking AI agents.

Sabih Behzad sees stablecoins, tokenised deposits and central bank money serving different purposes rather than competing for one winning model. For Deutsche Bank, scaling them means connecting new forms of money and assets with regulated custody, controls and the traditional financial infrastructure banks already operate.

GenLayer Labs co-founder and CEO Albert Castellana explains how intelligent contracts could assess disputed obligations between AI agents, while the Internet Court initiative seeks to connect contractual services as questions of reliability, appeals and legal accountability remain unresolved.