Maybank: ASEAN’s Banking Sector To Drive Digitalisation And Prosperity, But The Pandemic’s Risk Remain

Maybank Kim Eng’s Invest ASEAN 2021 webinar, ASEAN Financials: The Shape of Things to Come, has highlighted ASEAN’s banking landscape will be shaped by increasing digitalisation, growing wealth in the region, evolving talent requirements and higher regulations around capital and liquidity.

According to one of the speakers, Thilan Wickramsinghe, Regional Head, Banks Research, Maybank Kim Eng, “With increased cross-border trade, more digital use, and greater affluence, ASEAN banks are poised to seize new opportunities. To win, they will need to embrace new technology and work styles and get closer to their customers. However, the growth path must be carefully tapped because the pandemic’s risk still remains.

“We believe that supply chains shifting from North Asia to ASEAN, increasing cross border trade, higher digital adoption, and rising wealth offer attractive paths for growth. A survey by our research team shows that the critical factors that could drive medium-term profitability is rising non-interest income contribution particularly from wealth management as the region grows in affluence,” he added.

Additionally, Ong Li Lian, Group Head and Lead Specialist, ASEAN Macro Economic Research Office (AMRO) said, “ASEAN banks are very well buffered with high levels of high-quality capital, in part because of the lessons learned during the Asian Financial Crisis.”

Bank have also achieved tremendous growth and profitability because of the region’s robust economic expansion, which was also driven by the growth of wealth led to greater demand for financial services.  

Dean Tong, Managing Director and Head of Group Human Resources, United Overseas Bank said, “There are niche areas in which artificial intelligence can actually work alongside humans to make us a lot more productive moving forward.

“It is how we actually look at those challenges, or as opportunities and to use that to shape our strategy to take advantage of some of those changes in the market, how we reshape the workforce, to prepare for this, so that they are not caught off guard when it actually happens.”

On risks to the sector, Ong believes that the biggest risk is whether regulation, supervision and the identification of systemic risks can keep up with the innovation.

Meanwhile, Pranav Seth, Chief Digital Officer, Techcombank Vietnam said, “Some banks began the digitalisation journey earlier than others, modernising their fundamental infrastructure and becoming more customer-centric slightly earlier than the rest of the pack. Those who haven’t done so yet and aren’t doing it forcefully, I feel, is in threat.”

Invest ASEAN 2021, Maybank Kim Eng’s flagship annual investor conference, kicked off on June 3 and will run for three months until August.

Despite the global pandemic, Invest ASEAN 2020 attracted over 1,000 participants at 206 virtual meetings. The event successfully connected more than 70 ASEAN corporates with a total market capitalisation of USD265.7 billion to local and global investors.

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