Several organisations have jumped on the metaverse bandwagon with alacrity, investing in technology and digital assets to gain from its potential, but developments are still highly experimental and hindered by complexities.

Multi-CBDCs will allow international settlements on a single platform, streamlining cross-border payments. Project Dunbar offers insights and challenges on how a multi-CBDC platform could potentially solve complex issues in the cross-border payment space. But with the completion of the first phase, more unknowns remain.

Andi Taufan and Aria Widyanto of Amartha shared how their fintech social enterprise is supporting women entrepreneurs in Indonesia to expand their microenterprises. Founded as a microfinance cooperative in 2010, Amartha transformed itself into a financial technology company with a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending model in 2016.

Vietcombank has embarked on a mission to become the number one bank in Vietnam, one of the 100 largest banks in Asia, one of the 300 largest banking and financial groups in the world, and one of the 1,000 largest global listed companies, by 2030.

Vietcombank is one of the first and leading banks in Vietnam to issue and support existing cardholders to convert from magnetic stripe to contactless chip cards

Vietcombank has launched an eKYC function that assists customers to open accounts anywhere at any time, avoiding waiting time at transaction counters

Some countries in Asia Pacific posted stronger growth in bank lending to small businesses between 2019 and 2021 as compared to the period from 2017 to 2019

Mashreq Bank’s group head of retail banking, Fernando Morillo, spoke with Emmanuel Daniel about leveraging cloud-based infrastructure to grow its consumer business and expand into neighbouring markets.

In this commentary, Gordian Gaeta urges every individual to hold their political leaders responsible to end the use of fossil fuels and transition towards a green and a sustainable future. The latest IPCC report is a final warning to the governments on climate action. The report states that global temperatures will rise to more than 3 degrees Celsius, resulting in catastrophic consequences, unless policies are urgently implemented.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes in Asia Pacific lag behind other markets in usage and profitability despite early investor excitement over this latest financial technology trend.

Digital and incumbent banks face growing threats from big tech and payment platforms that are evolving into full-scale financial services players. Latest forecast derived from BIS data, predicts that alternative financing will surpass $1 trillion by 2023.

Licensed digital banks and P2P/marketplace platforms focused on alternative business lending to SMEs are overcoming operating and market challenges to scale and sustain their businesses. Leading players are charging ahead with more comprehensive service solutions and expanding regionally.

Stringent cost control and digitalisaltion led to steady improvement in operational efficiency of Qatar Islamic Bank. The top 10 most efficient Islamic banks among the world’s 50 largest Islamic banks comprise four from Qatar, three from Malaysia and one each from Egypt, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ukraine’s ambassador Kateryna Zelenko in a conversation with The Asian Banker’s Emmanuel Daniel and Mathew Welch warned that a protracted Russia-Ukraine war will have serious ramifications for the entire world against Russia’s threat to restrict access to and escalate prices of agricultural and energy exports. She urged the global financial services community to contribute to stopping the war.

While governments are donating billions of dollars in cash or equipment to support Ukraine, private capital from large and small donors alike has a critical role in supporting relief efforts now and rebuilding Ukraine in the future.