Anthony Koh, group CEO and co-founder of MC Payment, one of the first few digital payments companies to be listed on Singapore Exchange (SGX) Catalist, shared his business strategy, how they compete in a crowded market, plans for cross-border…
Interviews
Stephan Dreyer, managing director of the Association of National Numbering Agencies, talked about the role of the global body in developing a common identifier standard for the emerging class of crypto and digital assets to be issued…
Amrit Kumar, president and chief scientific officer of Zilliqa, and Michael Conn, CEO of Zilliqa Capital, share their perspectives on current challenges and opportunities in decentralised finance (DeFi), how they are building the technology…
SGX's Rehan Ahmed and Temasek's Pradyumna Agrawal discuss the joint venture between the two organisations to build a full fledged infrastructure for digital assets in Asia, its growth potential and drivers as well as issues and challenges…
Well Fargo’s regional president and head of corporate and investment banking for Asia Pacific, Jafar Amin, discusses the rebound in inter regional trade and payments that may buoy outlook for 2021, and the need for institutions to…
BNY Mellon’s global trade finance product head Joon Kim, and head of treasury services in Asia Pacific, Arnon Goldstein, discuss the prospects of a recovery in trade and commercial payment volumes, the importance of engendering robust…
Wissam Khoury, head of international at Finastra, shares views on how the technology priorities of banks have changed due to the pandemic and how financial institutions are rethinking their technology strategy in favour of cloud and…
Paula Da Silva, head of transaction services at SEB, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on trade and cash management business from the bank and pan-European transaction banking industry perspective and how the bank has gone full throttle…
Raja Gopalakrishnan, executive vice president at Global Real Time Payments, FIS, shares key trends in payments and financial technology as well as how banks could improve their competitive strength with cloud technology
Standard Chartered's Sugirin: “With the pandemic, corporates are moving much more into near shoring”
Michael Sugirin, global head for Open Account Trade, Ecosystem & Trade Implementation at Standard Chartered Bank, discusses trends of nimbler and more diversified supply chains post pandemic and the importance of providing liquidity…
Kam Chana, product innovation director at Temenos, shares her perspective on evolving financial technology trends, how banks need to rethink personalisation and customer engagement, as well as bring efficiency in their business models
Faisal Ameen, head of global transaction services for Asia Pacific and Japan at Bank of America, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on trade and payment flows as well as industry outlook for APAC, and how the bank is helping FI and corporate…
Mary Huen, CEO of Standard Chartered Hong Kong, shares her insights into the role of Hong Kong as an international financial centre, China’s opening agenda and the capabilities that StanChart needs to develop to capture the opportunities…
Ned Phillips, CEO and founder of Bambu, a B2B robo-advisory technology provider, discusses the growth trend in automated wealth management, how the company differentiates its technology as well as its recent business growth
Kelvin Teo, group CEO and co-founder of Funding Societies, explains the differences between the company and other peer-to-peer financing platforms, its business performance and the challenges it faces during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michael Bermingham, co-founder and chief business officer of Nium, shares how the company has evolved its business model across retail and enterprise cross-border payments as well as its recent partnerships to drive future growth.
Will Ruddick and Caroline Dama, board directors at Grassroots Economics Foundation, discuss how community currencies are helping the poor to exchange goods and services and incubate new businesses, without relying on scarce national…
The head of digital and user experience at TMB Bank, Robert Anghel, discusses how the bank is focusing on consumers’ growing appetite for digital services to lead in the market, the impact of COVID and its target technology model after…
Newly appointed ESG head for Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank explains to Foo Boon Ping and Chris Georgiou the importance of the region to the global sustainability movement and how the bank intends to embed ESG across all its businesses
In this Digital Reinvention Dialogue, the senior vice president of the transformation office at Bank Mandiri, Adinata Widia, shares how the bank starts to digitise manual processes and leverage fintechs to help maintain market share…
In this Digital Reinvention Dialogue, the chief technology and transformation officer of Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), Henry Aguda, shares the bank’s ambition of reaching 50 million consumers and one million SMEs as well…
Evaluating companies in a measurement system that emphasises the UN SDG targets leads to incoherent results, according to INNORBIS founder and CEO Angelica Lips da Cruz and CSO William P. Fis
Thomas William Tobin, Head of Retail Banking Group, Vietcombank, shared the outstanding 2019 results of the bank which earned it the Best Retail Bank Award in Vietnam. He also opened up about the digital transformation journey of Vietcombank…
Donald Lacey, managing director and chief operating officer of Ping An Global Voyager Fund discusses the investment philosophy of the company, the themes that shape its view on the future of finance and the impact that COVID-19 has…
Nandini Sukumar, CEO, The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), shares the results of its sixth annual sustainability survey that showed increased engagement among members on ESG disclosure and products
Nick Wilde, managing director for Asia Pacific (APAC) at Thought Machine, a cloud native technology provider, discusses the readiness of financial institutions to move their core banking systems to the cloud and the challenges that…
In this first part of the Wealth and Society Dialogue Series, Andrew D. Ive, founder and general partner of Big Idea Ventures, discusses the growing appetite for meat alternatives amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how the company’s two…
NASDAQ-traded VEON believes that while the transition to 5G is not expected to happen soon in the markets it is serving, there are growth opportunities that can be explored using 4G connectivity in the areas of financial services
G9 Ark aims to break the NGO-Donor model by providing a funding mechanism that fosters collaboration rather than competition among non-government organisations to strategically redress climate change.
Benjamin Diokno, governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), reveals the central bank’s mission to make the unbanked Filipinos part of the country’s formal economy.
China is slowly turning the corner from the pandemic and questions over its economic recovery are becoming more pressing. Top thought leaders discuss how and when this recovery could happen as well as other opportunities and challenges…
Axel Winter, chief technology officer at Central Group, speaks about building an omnichannel platform and some of the problems encountered while working with banks.
Dimantha Seneviratne, the chief executive of Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank, discusses the challenges that the country has been facing as well as the opportunities he sees for the Sri Lankan economy.
David Hardoon, special advisor on artificial intelligence for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, offers his insights on AI, from operationalising it to making it relevant to people and businesses.
DN Capital’s Lemmens: “Investors are becoming more judicious about which opportunities to invest in”
Renier Lemmens, a venture partner at DN Capital, shares his views on fintechs and how these companies operate and make decisions differently from banks.
Former footballer Michael Owen talks about his desire to give back to the community, the values he shares with his family and his career in sports and business.
Rasitha Gunawardana, CEO and general manager of People’s Bank, summarises the decade-long process of technologically upgrading the largest state-owned bank in Sri Lanka. He talks about the risks and challenges encountered along the…
Romesh Jayawickrama, the founder of Aurigin, formerly known as BankerBay, shares how the platform manages to connect deals and capital investors globally. He also talks about his role as a deal maker as well as the company’s business…
Abdul Rahman AlAshraf, founder of FreeCom, shares how his idea of communicating without the use of internet or mobile network came about. He also explains how the prototype works, its potentials and how it will keep people connected…
In the midst of the US-China trade war, Fudan University Dean of Economics Professor Zhang Jun, provides a clearer picture of what goes on inside the world’s second-largest economy and the factors affecting its growth.
Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister of Belgium, admits that the European Union is still a weak organisation. And in a future that heralds a “world of empires”, it is necessary for the EU to abandon the unanimity rule and move forward…
Veteran banker Jonathan Larsen, who ran Citibank’s global retail bank and mortgages, came out of retirement to head Ping An Group’s chief innovation office. He is now on the lookout for innovative fintech business models that are complementary…
Tan Kong Khoon, the president and CEO of Hong Leong Financial Group, shares his views with The Asian Banker regarding the company’s plans for the long term, the challenges facing the financial industry, and providing solutions for…
Samuel John Mathew, global head of documentary trade and products at Standard Chartered Bank, explains how technologies, such as optical character recognition, natural language processing and artificial intelligence aid in digitising…
Shekhar Bhandari, head of global transaction banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), shares how KMB leverages its digital-first strategy by launching initiatives such as open API and solutions that allow customers to open bank accounts…
Jacqueline Keogh, Western Union’s global head of payments sales, discusses some key points regarding regulation and innovation in the industry as well as the need for better collaboration amongst financial institutions.
Peter Hazou, director of business strategy for worldwide financial services at Microsoft, elaborates how the changing role of banks, habits of consumers and needs of clients take part in digital revolution.
David Chance, Fiserv’s vice president of payments strategy and innovation, talks about how payment systems are shaking up the industry as well as the crucial role of information in helping financial institutions provide better services…
Luca Corsini, the head of global transaction banking at UniCredit, talks about the new regulation requiring banks to open up their data to third parties.
Clayton McDonald, head of sales for the global payments division at INTL FCStone, discusses how SWIFT's gpi initiative enables end-to-end tracking, making payment transactions more transparent to customers.
Jennifer Scott-Gray, head of corporate bank, Australia at Deutsche Bank, speaks about building out a cash management branch in Australia and expanding the bank’s current offerings.
Santosh Tripathy, practice lead for digital payments at SmartStream, shares his understanding of artificial intelligence, its functions, benefits and importance to banks in solving use cases.
Falk Rieker, Global Vice President and Global Head of IBU Banking at SAP, highlights the importance for banks to take a more collaborative and proactive approach to drive connectivity with the ecosystems that their customers operate…
Michael Correa, general manager of Westpac for Asia Pacific, talks about the payment developments in Asia and the role Australia played in achieving this growth in the region.
Patrik Zekkar, global head of trade finance and working capital management at Nordea, shares his views on the overall business in the trade finance area, and the bank’s plans to scale-up and expand towards Asia.
Paul Taylor, head of Global Financial Institution Sales for GTS at Bank of America, talks about the massive increase in the importance of data and how this will help FIs.
Rajnish Kumar, chairman, State Bank of India (SBI) discusses how SBI, as the largest bank in India, will play a crucial role in unlocking the economic potential through financial and technological inclusion
Michael Lim and Mark Evans, ANZ Institutional executives, discuss the opportunities made available in collaborating with fintechs and how these can be beneficial for both ends.
Jafar Amin, Asia Pacific regional president and head of corporate and investment banking at Wells Fargo, discusses the challenges that financial institutions and global markets face such as the US-China trade war, Brexit and the emergence…
Devashis Das, deputy head of Global Transaction Banking, Asia Oceania at Mizuho Bank discusses the latest financial technologies and the opportunities they create for the banking industry.
Greg Kidd, the serial startup investor who helped found Square and Twitter and is currently investor in GlobaliD, a opens up in this wide-ranging and open-ended interview about his career in identifying and helping found innovative…
Ping An Bank chairman Xie Yonglin talked about the bank’s transformation journey into a leading retail financial services provider, the evolution of the bancassurance business model and his key career milestones and aspirations during…
In an interview with The Asian Banker, Bassel Gamal, Qatar Islamic Bank’s group CEO, makes known that the bank is not resting on its laurels after having achieved financial achievements over the years. Rather, it is continuously trying…
Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, in his interview with Emmanuel Daniel, spoke on the importance of collaboration between the institution and the market. He highlights that institutions must think beyond selling a product, and must…
Emmanuel Daniel speaks to Mark Walker and Christophe Langlois co-founders of The Fintech Power 50 list of top fintech companies that was just published
Vincent Kilcoyne, EVP and Head for Product Management at SmartStream sees multiple challenges from Basel Committee on Banking Supervision 248 (BCBS 248) and other regulations as rising interest rates continue impacting intra-day liquidity…
ANZ’s Vasic and Huse speak about the greater transactional business needs of Australian clients expanding into Asia and also discuss the shake up the payments landscape in Australia, once open banking legislation comes into play in…
Marcus Treacher, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Ripple, discusses challenges in expediting payment processes from a clarity, visibility, and reliability perspective and talks about Ripple’s solutions focused on the open…
SEB’s Da Silva and Lascoux talked about how collaboration between multiple parties was driving rapid cross-border payments integration in the Nordic region and discussed SEB’s corporate strategies amid heightened global de-risking.
Mckinsey’s Bruno and Chaudhuri highlighted the emergence of alternative payment instruments in especially in markets of ASEAN & China and how fintechs and telcos had taken the lead in providing real-time payment services.
Claus Richter, Head of Transaction Banking Solutions at Nordea shares his views on the impact of technology, particularly blockchain, on domestic and cross-border payments.
Eddie Haddad, SWIFT Managing Director, Asia Pacific talks about the latest developments in Global Payments Initiative (gpi), how it helps institutions manage and assess payment risks, as well as create solutions tailored to their clients’…
Mohammed Altajir, co-founder of Tratok Project, a blockchain enabled global travel rewards programme discusses the pit-falls in the current business model and how the start-up will deliver greater transparency, interoperability and…
Brad van Leeuwen, head of partnerships of fintech Railsbank, explains its business model and growth plan to Emmanuel Daniel, chairman of the Asian Banker
Hogi Hyun, Founder, D1 Coin and Managing Director, Abacus Capital, shares insights on the application of blockchain technology to the asset management industry and how diamonds will be the future of asset backed tokens as an investible…
Emmanuel Daniel, chairman of the Asian Banker, discusses key issues impacting institutions' digitalisation journey and what it takes to be successful in their digital transformation at the Annual Heads of Retail Finance Dialogue 2018…
Ralph Echemendia, a world-renowned cybersecurity specialist, who is known as “The Ethical Hacker”, and chief executive officer of security firm Seguru, shares his views on the evolving blockchain technology landscape and the future…
Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder and chief executive officer of TransferWise, a UK-based peer-to-peer money transfer service company, shares his entrepreneurial vision in establishing the company, its business model, and how it works to…
Daniel Hoyoung Yun, chief executive officer of South Korea’s Kakao Bank, shares a background on the development of the internet-only bank, its recent achievements, and future plans.
Cedric Jeanson, chief executive officer and founder of BitSpread, a blockchain asset hedgefund, discusses the company’s investment strategy, how the valuation of bitcoin has been affecting the business, and his views on initial coin…
Louise Beaumont, co-chair of the techUK Open Bank Working Group, shares an update on the implementation of open banking in the UK and the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), and the future role of the open banking platform.
Asit Oberoi, group president and global head transaction banking group at Yes Bank, shares his key insights from SIBOS 2017 and the valuable learning’s he thinks can be applied to improve the bank's business.
Vladislav Solodkiy, chief executive officer and managing partner, Life.SREDA, discusses his journey into the investment world, how the company built its market brand, and his opinion on what makes a successful financial technology…
Chen De, general manager, channel management department, China Construction Bank, states that recognitions serve as affirmation and motivation for the bank to continuously improve its services. The bank plans to enhance its operational…
Wan Hua, deputy general manager, information and technology department, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, shares how the bank upgrades its management capability and optimises its enterprise credit services process
Tao Rong, general manager, personal banking department, China Zheshang Bank, shares how the bank is building a new social media platform of financial services and products based on customers’ pain points.
Mark Taylor, Sales Director, Asia Pacific at SmartStream Technologies, discusses the impact of regulatory developments such as MiFID II and intraday liquidity reporting and how the company is positioning itself in the market today.
Phang Yew Kiat, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Credit China FinTech, talks about his company’s transformation from just a traditional peer-to-peer lending company into a business that offers multiple lending revenue streams.
K Nanda Kumar, founder and chief executive officer of Suntec Business Solutions, talks about how the company is leveraging current developments in open banking and application programming interface, his insights on how the financial…
Julia Webb, executive vice president of sales and marketing at VoiceVault, discusses how the company provides seamless authentication for customers in mobile banking through voice biometrics.
Mark Whitcroft, one of the founding partners of Illuminate Financial, shares the London-based venture capital firm investment strategies, why it invests in capital markets and early stage financial technology companies, and its funding…
Philipp Pieper, partner and co-founder of Swarm Fund, talks about the nature of the company, how it is using blockchain, and how it deals with different regulations on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings.
Deepak Dutt, founder and chief executive officer of Zighra, a mobile security start-up harnessing crowdsourced user information and implicit authentication techniques to fight fraud, shares the nature of his company and how it works…
Alexander Tsigutkin, group chief executive officer of AxiomSL, a data and technology firm that provides enterprise-wide solutions for regulatory reporting, talks about the opportunities in the industry and the application and potential…
Soul Hitte, founder of Dianrong.com, a marketplace lending platform in China, compares the development of peer-to-peer lending between US and China, and the expansion into becoming integrated supply chain platforms at the Future of…
Brock Blake, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lendio, discusses the nature of the company, the products it offers, as well its future plans.
Ryan Taylor, chief executive officer, Dash, discusses the position of the company in the industry today, its differences to other crypto currencies, and its future plans.
Alain Falys, co-founder and chief executive officer of Yoyo Wallet, a mobile payment and loyalty marketing platform in Europe, talks about how the company was founded, the things he learnt from establishing Yoyo Wallet, and its business…
Matthias Kröner, head and chief executive officer of German digital bank Fidor, speaks about Fidor FinanceBay, an online marketplace where consumers and suppliers can meet, and how it will try to cover all consumers needs, and the…
Ajit Kanagasundram, former managing director, technology, Asia Pacific at Citibank, who built the bank’s global card processing capability from Singapore, shares his view on the changes that have happened in the technology forefront…
Alasdair Rambaud, chief revenue officer of cyber-intelligence providerEverCompliant, discusses the main purpose of the company, how it aims to be more relevant in today’s online world, and how it will grow through electronic know your…
Will Dawson, chief operating officer of MoneyOnMobile, an Indian-based mobile payment platform, shares his thought son the impact of the demonitisation in India to cash-based remittances, how it drove digital payments in the country,…
Nikolay Storonsky, chief executive officer and co-founder of Revolut, a European emerging challenger bank, talks about the app-based bank's ambition to expand beyond Europe as well as its plans to issue fintech-as-a-service and wealth…
Ben Chisell, product director at mobile-only Starling Bank, shares how the bank helps people gain better access to financial services using technology, and its strategies to achieve its plan to become the Amazon of banking in the UK.
Ron Suber, founder and President of Prosper Marketplace, discusses the evolution of the online marketplace, how it is converging with the banking industry and explains why players are moving away from the original peer-to-peer ideals,…
Martin Maurer, chief executive officer of the Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland, speaks about the evolution of the country as a financial and wealth management centre, the emergence of new wealth players and transformation…
John Donovan, regional vice president of ForgeRock, an identity platform provider, shares how the company helps banks and various institutions maintain a seamless and frictionless relationship with the customers and how they look at…
Eugene Danilkis, chief executive officer of Mambu, talks about the evolution of banking technology and how the company manages the expectations of the regulators and the customers.
African Fintech Network's Agbo-Madaki: "We provide developers a platform to showcase what they have"
Andrew Agbo-Madaki, chairman of the African Fintech Network and chief executive officer of Decy-4 Technologies, shares his opinion on the recent movement of financial technology in Africa, the network's plans, and how his own start-up…
Darren Taylor, chief designer of Clearly, gives a rundown on what the company aims to provide its partner banks – from different banking solutions to its servicing capabilities and new products as well as branding to target different…
Sam Quawasmi, co-founder and managing director of Eureeca.com, sheds light on what the equity crowdfunding platform is about, how it delivers its products to investors, and how it is different from its competitors in the market.
Emmanuel Daniel, chairman of The Asian Banker and a panel of forward looking practitioners, comprising former US Congressman and co-author of the Financial Reform Act, Barney Frank; Tang Ning, founder and CEO of China's leading peer-to-peer…
John Donovan, chief executive officer of Bizfi, discusses the company's evolution from being a balance sheet lender, how it currently works, and how it has automated its documentation processes.
In a highly engaging discussion organised by the Entrepreneur Organisation in Malaysia chaired by Christine Sterk, global marketing director at Adstream, the panel comprising Dato Yasmin Mahmood, CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation,…
Suvo Sarkar, head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, discusses the bank's "futuristic branch" in Dubai, the purpose for its conceptualisation, its inclusions, and how will it work as a client attraction in the…
Bobby Lee, chief executive officer of BTCC, shares the developments happening in its bitcoin business and how the company maintains a good relationship with Chinese regulators.
Genki Oka, head of Japan at Ant Financial Services Group, shares his desire to be an ambassador of the Chinese e-commerce giant in Japan and why he feels that it can succeed in the famously tough Japanese consumer market
Mark Zawacki, founder of Silicon Valley based fintech accelerator 650 Labs, discusses the latest developments and technology trends in the fintech space.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, discusses the company's business model and growth plan, its partnership with Alibaba, and the impact of demonetisation and regulations on cashless transaction in India
The heads of transaction banking from a number of leading banks in Asia Pacific – Deutsche Bank, BDO Unibank, PT Bank Mandiri, Maybank, China Merchants Bank and Canadia Bank - share their views on key developments that are transforming…