EastWest chief executive officer Jerry G. Ngo discusses why the bank intends to retain its consumer-centric identity while expanding into wealth, SME and corporate banking, how it is rebalancing its loan portfolio, and why the economics of AI require a selective approach in the Philippines.

OCBC NISP (OCBC) has strengthened its position in Indonesia’s affluent banking segment through a hybrid wealth management model that combines relationship manager-led advisory, high digital adoption and Beyond Banking benefits. The strategy is supported by strong growth of assets under management, deeper customer engagement and expanding penetration across mutual funds, bonds and bancassurance.

As digital commerce becomes faster, more embedded and increasingly automated, the strategic value of payments is shifting from transaction execution towards the intelligence, trust and infrastructure that sit beneath the payment itself.

Banks at Temenos Regional Forum Asia Pacific 2026 discussed how core modernisation, data and AI are changing technology priorities, while Vietnam's evolving fraud controls showed why faster digitalisation also requires stronger safeguards.

TAB Middle East Weekly Brief: Commercial International Bank earmarks $300 million for digital bank yomo following preliminary regulatory approval, while the Central Bank of Egypt establishes rules for electronic customer identification and verification through its Digital Financial Identity Platform.

Transaction Finance Weekly: Standard Chartered and HSBC complete the first live cross-border transaction using tokenised deposits on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger; Citi launches Custody+ with near-real-time custody capabilities for institutional clients.

Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited is redefining financial inclusion through its lending and insurance brokerage businesses, moving beyond access to provide continuity of support.

Wealth and Society's weekly roundup covers Singapore's new fund-manager incentives, record results at LGT and Lombard Odier, and asset-management and wealth-technology developments across the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, India and the Philippines.

Risk and Capital Weekly Brief: APRA expands system-risk stress testing, Santander completes Webster deal, Judo and AmBank flag elevated impairments, Absa and Heartland improve asset quality.

The Asian Banker Weekly Brief: US Treasury doubles long-dated buybacks as debt hits $40 trillion, Alibaba raises $10.3 billion, SoftBank plans AI bond, Australia tightens super rules.

At Finance Philippines, industry leaders examined how data and technology are changing the cost of assessing risk, serving customers and moving capital across SME lending, wealth management and cross-border finance. The strategic question for Philippine banks is whether these tools can support commercially sustainable business models, not simply faster digital delivery.

TAB China Weekly Brief: China holds loan prime rates for a 15th month, expands digital RMB network to 30 operators, renews RMB220 billion Australia currency swap and Ping An Bank returns to profit growth.

Profit growth slowed among leading Indonesian banks in the first half of 2026 as weaker revenue and narrower margins weighed on earnings. Lower credit costs and improved efficiency, however, helped several large lenders maintain stronger profit growth.

Financial Technology Weekly: DBS rolls out agentic AI to 1,500 credit managers, Stripe agrees to acquire OpenRouter for over $7 billion, AWS makes AgentCore payments generally available and Absa's chatbot handles 100,000 monthly queries.

Financial Markets Weekly: Nasdaq confirms a December launch for 23-hour equity trading, Indonesia advances its state-backed commodity exchange, the SEC proposes new crypto capital-raising exemptions and Citi prepares a bitcoin custody platform.