by Nataliya Mylenko
According to a joint CGAP and World Bank report Financial Access 2009, 2.7 billion people in emerging markets do not use financial services from regulated financial institutions. The microfinance industry has already demonstrated that it is possible to serve this market segment in a sustainable and profitable matter.
If even bankers refer to financial services as a utility, is there room for service in financial “services”?
The announcement this morning that ANZ was buying RBS’ business in six countries was no surprise to anyone who had been following the story -except maybe for the price: at $550 million, ANZ is paying a much smaller amount than the $980 million that had been mentioned in recent press reports. Now the hard work begins.
This time around, there are nearly as many surprises at Citi’s Asia franchise as at its New York the headquarters. With all the bluster about Asia being the bank’s most important region, it was reorganised last year along geographic lines as part of the massive company’s general restructuring, and Ajay Banga’s regional CEO role was created. Now, over a year after, Banga is jumping out and heading to MasterCard.
A funny thing seems to be happening in Asia, with several lenders hopping borders to set up shop in the unlikeliest places. Strangely enough, the ones that are doing most of the hopping seem to be the Koreans. Kookmin has bought into both Kazakhstan and Cambodia, and now Shinhan is moving into Japan.
Only a month [...]
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