Do not be caught off guard, risks come in all forms and shapes. Progressive market players are beginning to consider environmental risks in earnest. More needs to be done, though, to equip bank managers to effectively factor into their decision-making the interests of the world’s most critical, often endangered, natural capital, such as that of UNESCO World Heritage Sites—committing to do what they can to preserve living legacies for future generations.
BICICI, BNP Paribas’s subsidiary in Côte d’Ivoire, is one of the country’s top banks, committed to providing a wide and diversified range of products and services to a client base that is equally wide and diversified, from SMEs to ordinary citizens who are stubbornly resistant to trusting banks. CEO Jean-Louis Menann-Kouamé discusses how BICICI is part of the advance guard leading the West African banking evolution.
Serbia, in the Central Balkans, may not seem to be at the forefront of the digital revolution. And yet amongst its top five banks is AIK Banka, which is making a determined effort to exploit all of the benefits of modern financial technology to provide top-notch, innovative services and products to its customers while staying true to its traditional core businesses.
There’s no doubt that first impressions matter—that’s why those initial contacts potential customers have with banks can mean either a long-term, happy marriage or a quick divorce. Banks have a lot to lose in getting their onboarding processes wrong, and a lot to gain in getting them right;
Can a bank be a friend to its customers in their times of need? Thailand’s Krungthai Bank thinks so, and that is why it has stood behind all of its customers since its beginnings 50 years ago through thick and thin, including devastating natural disasters. State-owned KTB proves that banking customer service can indeed go that extra mile and still be profitable.
The banking industry in Ecuador has endured its ups and downs, including a full-blown and far-reaching liquidity crisis in 1999. Fortunately financial conditions are much more promising in the Ecuador of today, as banks work alongside a supportive government toward such goals as the financial inclusion of all Ecuadorians and the digital revamping of costly legacy bank systems.
Bank Islam in Malaysia embodies a financial institution that is influenced by much more than the goal of maximizing dollars and cents. New CEO Khairul Kamarudin outlines the many other considerations that go into the bank’s decision-making in its drive to be an ethical value-based intermediary guided by Shariah principles, committed to generating positive results for its community, economy and environment.
The International Banker 2017 Asia and Australasia Awards Winners
The best banking institutions in retail, commercial, private and investment banking are highlighted along with two outstanding CEOs from their regions.
It cannot be denied that we learn from mistakes of the past, and so the 2007-08 financial crisis is a lesson that keeps on giving. Ten years later, most banks are in stronger positions, but only because the crisis has changed all the rules on liquidity provision and has led to much tighter relationships between central banks, governments, funding markets and financial institutions.
As the personal data of customers is more openly shared within the global digital community, the question arises: Who does it belong to? In Europe and the UK, new regulations are addressing the concerns consumers have about who is accessing their data and for what purpose, bringing both challenges and opportunities to financial institutions, which depend on customer data to effectively do business.