Over five days in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan, the China AI Innovation Study Tour 2025 brought delegates into detailed briefings with leading financial institutions, technology firms and a collaborative innovation centre. The programme showed how artificial intelligence is embedded in platforms, supply chains and compliance frameworks, supported by owned technology stacks and continuous talent development.

In the lead up to Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, BNY said the focus will be on how global payments and market infrastructure are being reshaped by interoperability, harmonisation, artificial intelligence and instant connectivity.

Delegates of the China AI Innovation Study Tour visited OneConnect, Lexin and WeBank in Shenzhen. Walk-throughs of their headquarters were followed by detailed briefings and discussions that highlighted AI in customer service, lending, risk management and technology export.

The third day of the China AI Innovation Study Tour 2025 in Hangzhou took participants through Ant Group’s growth journey, milestones and AML Centre, PingPong’s 16-storey headquarters, and Zhejiang University’s innovation hub.

As banks and market infrastructures prepare to explore the next frontier of global finance at Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, Tan Ying Ying, Global Head of Product Management for Financing and Securities Services at Standard Chartered, explained how tokenisation, AI, interoperability and resilience are already reshaping securities services—and why the bank is determined to stay ahead.

RHB is pursuing an integrated retail banking strategy that brings together end-to-end digital onboarding, generative AI for consistent branch service and competitive mortgage products to secure market share in Malaysia’s crowded financial services landscape.

On the second day of the China AI Innovation Study Tour 2025, delegates explored Shanghai’s financial innovation at SPDB, experienced MYbank’s AI-driven SME banking in Hangzhou and witnessed cutting-edge robotics demonstrations at DeepRobotics.

As regulatory expectations rise and greenwashing scrutiny tightens, banks are embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) into credit, governance, data systems and inclusion strategies — transforming it from a compliance obligation into a core strategy with measurable and accountable frameworks.

Bank Simpanan Nasional is pursuing a multi-pronged digital transformation programme to broaden financial inclusion, improve customer experience and enhance operational efficiency. By deploying mobile banking, generative AI and process automation, the bank is adapting its service model to meet rising customer expectations while maintaining its mandate as Malaysia’s national savings institution.

The opening day of the China AI Innovation Study Tour 2025 in Shanghai highlighted three dimensions of China’s digital transformation. Delegates visited CloudWalk Technology, Douyin and ZhongAn Insurance, gaining first-hand insight into how artificial intelligence underpins national infrastructure, drives platform-based commerce and reshapes financial services.

Agentic AI is reshaping lending by handling routine tasks and freeing bankers to focus on strategy, clients and growth.

As Sibos returns to Frankfurt from 29 September to 2 October 2025, under the theme “The next frontiers of global finance”, discussions on stablecoins and tokenised assets will shift from pilot projects to practical deployment. Deutsche Bank’s Chan Boon Hiong explained how tokenised finance is reshaping foreign exchange, collateral and settlement, why harmonisation will remain elusive, and why tokenised deposits, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are set to coexist rather than converge.

As Sibos 2025 convenes in Frankfurt from late September to early October, Katja Lehr of JP Morgan and Akshika Gupta of Kinexys by JPMorgan laid out what banks and financial institutions could expect on payments evolution, interoperability, digital assets and tokenised deposits, and how the industry is bridging traditional finance with blockchain-based infrastructures.

As Sibos returns to Europe, Dhiraj Bajaj, global head of transaction banking FI sales at Standard Chartered, outlines what banks and financial institutions can expect in Frankfurt, from digital assets and AI to cross-border payments, ISO 20022, cybersecurity and the evolving role of Swift.

India and China sustained rapid expansion in small business bank loans, while Thailand and Indonesia faced stagnation or contraction amid rising credit risks, and financing constraints persisted in the Philippines.