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Tag: Finance

  • HSBC Bolsters Asia Technology M&A Team

    HSBC Bolsters Asia Technology M&A Team

    HSBC Holdings has hired Jeremy Choy to head its Asia Technology Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) team, a Hong-Kong based role that will also see him work with technology companies in areas such as initial public offerings and financing, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.

    Choy, who is expected to start in his new role as early as next week, joins HSBC from boutique investment bank China Renaissance, where he worked for 4 years, most recently as managing director and head of M&A. He will report to Rajeev Sahney, the bank’s head of Asia-Pacific advisory and corporate, Bloomberg said.

    According to his LinkedIn profile, Choy also worked for J.P. Morgan’s North Asia M&A team for 4 years, was an M&A advisor at PacBridge Capital Partners for 2 years, and worked for Goldman Sachs for 5 years.

    Bloomberg reported that the volume of technology, telecommunications and media deals in Asia-Pacific is down 47 percent from the year before.

    However, it noted several large deals on the horizon, including the sale of a major stake in gaming company Nexon Co. and a potential share sale in Hong Kong by Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group.

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  • Naver’s Latest Move and the Rise of New Payment Methods in Japan

    Naver’s Latest Move and the Rise of New Payment Methods in Japan

    Trends come and go in the retail world, but one which undoubtedly appears to be here to stay is the shift in how consumers now choose to pay for goods and services.

    Physical cash has played an important part in retail for decades, but a recent announcement involving South Korean internet firm Naver has put a spotlight on how new payment methods are becoming increasingly common in Japan.

    Mobile payments system

    Earlier this month it was confirmed that the company has launched a mobile payments system which can be used in Japanese stores. According to the Korea Herald, the Naver Pay service now features a tool known as Cross-Border, which allows people to make payments via a QR code on their smartphone or tablet.

    Naver Pay chief Choi Jin-woo told the media outlet that the move was the company’s “first step” into Japan and was based around providing a “convenient service” to customers wherever they are.

    While it is thought that the move will help Koreans travelling to the country, the announcement is also arguably another sign of the major changes being seen in how people pay for different items across the world.

    Going cashless

    A huge number of countries have embraced the idea of going cashless by using new payment methods, with the likes of Canada, Sweden and the UK thought to be among those leading the way.

    The types of services which have made the move possible include Google Pay, Apple Pay and, of course, the likes of PayPal. The latter is thought to have a total user base of 277 million accounts, with 255 million of those being consumers.

    Many businesses have worked hard to keep up with the consumer appetite for new payment options, and evidence of this can be seen in a range of sectors. For example, Amazon Pay allows people to use payment methods linked to their Amazon account to pay for services on other sites. In addition, this site offering Japanese NetBet casino games gives users a chance to make deposits via a range of means including Neteller, Skrill, Entropay and Trustly. Companies like Subway and Expedia have even flirted with cryptocurrency in the past too.

    Set for growth

    According to payment technology provider InComm, it is thought that around 20 per cent of all payments in Japan are currently made with methods other than cash, and it is thought that the government is keen to boost this further in the next six years. When did the organization reveal this? In an announcement that it had partnered with DFS to launch barcode payment solutions in the country.

    The world of payments is undoubtedly changing, and it will be fascinating to see whether all of the innovations emerging in Japan will ultimately mean the country rises up the rankings when it comes to going cashless. In addition, it will be vital that retailers can stay on top of these trends to ensure they can continue to meet consumer demand.

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  • SHB Finance issues certificates of deposit worth millions

    SHB Finance issues certificates of deposit worth millions

    SHB Finance has issued its fourth tranche certificates of deposits worth a total of VND300 billion ($12.88 million). These were 12-month deposits with an annual interest rate of 10.3 percent and no transfer fees.

    The SHBank Finance Company Limited (SHB Finance) issued the certificates of deposits for its fourth tranche as part of its book-building process. This issuance attracted prestigious institutional investors, including one domestic investment fund and one securities company.

    On April 25, SHB Finance had successfully issued its third tranche certificates of deposit with the same interest rate.

    Explaining the factors that make SHB Finance’s certificates of deposits attractive to investors, CEO Dinh Quang Huy said that although the company was a new player in the consumer finance market (official launch in August 2018), it has gained the attention of many institutional investors, thanks to its efficient and speedy operating system.

    “We always try to be transparent to investors at all time, not just when we need to raise funds. Therefore, our certificates of deposits are always welcomed by investors, even though timing of tranches are quite close,” Dinh said.

    The company announced positive business results in the first four months of 2019, very soon after it commenced operations. SHB Finance ended April 2019 with outstanding loans of VND1.44 trillion ($61.84 million), up 103 percent compared to 2018, fulfilling 39 percent of the plan for 2019. With the fourth tranche, SHB Finance has successfully raised VND900 billion ($38.65 million), VND810 billion from certificates of deposit and VND90 billion from deposits. The funds will help SHB Finance serve immediate consumer finance demands of low to medium income customers across the country, contribute to the development of a healthy consumer finance market and eliminate rampant shadow banking activities.

    Its profit before tax as of April 2019 had reached VND71.6 billion ($3.08 million).

    The company has served over 150,000 customers.

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  • VinID acquires MonPay e-wallet in Vietnam

    VinID acquires MonPay e-wallet in Vietnam

    Vingroup’s loyalty program VinID has acquired digital wallet app MonPay, a central bank source says.  The takeover procedures have been completed but did not disclose its form and value.

    Earlier this week, a new feature called “My Wallet” has appeared on the VinID app where customers can accumulate points from goods and services bought from Vingroup’s ecosystem, which includes real estate, education and shopping.

    From this feature, customers can deposit and withdraw money as with any electronic wallet, and all transactions go through MonPay. MonPay is a product created and run by local firm People Care JSC.

    Previously, at the end of 2018, People Care completely replaced its management board with three key executives from VinID, including Nguyen Thi Diu, deputy general director of Vingroup and general director of VinID; and Nguyen Minh Hong, one of three founding shareholders of VinID.

    VinID JSC was established in July 2018. It has a chartered capital of VND3 trillion ($128.81 million) and is 80 percent owned by Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate.

    People Care JSC is one of 29 enterprises that have been granted the payment intermediary license from the State Bank of Vietnam. The company doubled its charter capital from VND68 billion ($2.92 million) to VND138 billion ($5.93 million) at the end of 2018, after it had reappointed its board of directors.

    The government is working to accelerate the use of cashless transactions. In a resolution released January, it tasked the central bank to come up with solutions that would promote the use of e-wallets, which allow users to deposit cash into their e-wallets without the need for a bank account.

    However, Vietnam is still far away from becoming a cashless society, given low financial literacy and the lack of an ecosystem, experts say.

    The use of cash in Vietnam remains high. World Bank’s statistics released last year showed that the country had the lowest percentage of cashless transactions in the region with only 4.9 percent, while this value for China and Thailand were 26.1 percent and 59.7 percent respectively.

  • HSBC Plans To Scale Up SME Business in Singapore

    HSBC Plans To Scale Up SME Business in Singapore

    HSBC, which has been present in Singapore since 1877, said it intends to increase its share in its target small-medium-enterprise (SME) market from the current 10 percent to 15 percent by 2021. HSBC classifies SME clients as those with a turnover of $5-$100 million.

    At a high level, we see Singapore as a de facto financial capital for Southeast Asia (ASEAN), as well as an attractive destination for our customers around the world,» said Alex Turner, managing director and head of commercial banking in HSBC.

    To support the growth in SME lending, the bank increased its headcount in business banking by 30 last year. As the SME lending space is highly competitive, HSBC country head of business banking Ng Li Lian said that the bank will tap on its advantages, such as having a dedicated relationship manager for each SME client.

    It also launched the Pioneer program in August last year to target fast-growing SMEs with minimum topline growth of 15 percent, especially those who wish to internationalize. Besides access to skills and capabilities, this 12-month program lets SME leaders have conversations with different teams within HSBC, such as speaking with its alternative finance team on how to raise capital other than through debt.

    For ASEAN to benefit from a wide-scale migration of supply chains into the region, the countries need to first improve on technology, capacity, and regional integration said HSBC Singapore CEO Tony Cripps.

    There has been a widespread sentiment that the supply chains of businesses are starting to shift to Southeast Asia (SEA) en masse, on the back of the trade war and the region’s vitality, but there has been little evidence of that happening, wrote Cripps in a report.

    ASEAN needs to build more visibility and credibility amongst international firms, particularly in their ability to handle and deliver production orders, he added.

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  • DBS Chief Information Officer Retires

    DBS Chief Information Officer Retires

    DBS’ Chief Information Officer and Head Of Group Technology and Operations, is leaving the bank.  DBS has confirmed that its group head of technology and operations David Gledhill is departing effective from 1 August. He will return to the United Kingdom, according to his announcement on LinkedIn. The 57-year-old is a British citizen calls his departure a soft Glexit.

    After 29 years in Asia and 11 years at DBS, we decided it’s finally time to move on and replant our roots back in the U.K. So, after almost two years of planning, today we announced my retirement from DBS, and the Packers moved in at home,» Gledhill said in a LinkedIn post.

    Gledhill said he will stay connected with DBS in a part-time advisory role. Also an independent director with Singapore Airlines, Gledhill said he will also be back in Singapore every three months. Before joining DBS in 2008, Gledhill worked at J.P. Morgan for 20 years, holding senior regional positions in technology and operations.

    A DBS spokesperson said that Gledhill has been a leading figure in the bank’s transformation. He has been responsible for standardizing the bank’s systems, creating reliability and resilience, and most recently, taking DBS down the path of agile and cloud.

    Gledhill will be succeeded by Jimmy Ng, who has been deputy group head of technology and operations at DBS since January 2018. Having joined DBS in 2009, Ng started his career briefly as a system analyst in Singtel before joining the technology audit function in J.P. Morgan.

    He subsequently worked in various functions including operations, risk management and product control at ABN Amro.

  • UOB Outlines Growth Priorities

    UOB Outlines Growth Priorities

    Amid rising global trade tensions and concerns over a synchronized global slowdown, UOB wants to focus on three areas for growth. UOB wants to focus on regional connectivity, ecosystem partnerships, and strong balance sheet/quality earnings to harness growth, the bank said at its Corporate Day held in Singapore on Wednesday.

    In such an environment, it is even more important that we focus on the fundamentals and not lose sight of our main objectives, UOB’s chief executive Wee Ee Cheong underlined.

    In his keynote address, he added that with rising global trade tensions and concerns over a synchronized global slowdown, it was essential that the bank focused on its key priorities.

    At UOB, this rests on our consistent approach of putting our customers at the center, he said. The Corporate Day covered how UOB will continue to build on its regional operating model, to invest at scale in digital and new technology, to equip its people for the future and to drive productivity and performance.

    Currently, the bank has more than 40 percent of group operating profit derived outside of Singapore. Of this, close to 80 percent comes from operations in Southeast Asia and Greater China. «We expect these numbers to go up as we strengthen our regional connectivity, collaborate in win-win partnerships to tap intra-regional flows and the region’s rising affluence for growth,» Wee added.

    Southeast Asia has the third largest population globally, after China and India. The region also has a young population, with 384 million people below 35 years old.

    Given Southeast Asia’s prospects, the bank will continue to make significant investments in developing its digital capabilities to make banking simpler, smarter and safer across all its network. «Throughout the region, we have invested in an omnichannel approach: engaging our customers across a range of touchpoints that best suit them – offline or online, physical or digital or a combination. This is because we know that digital is not the only way that our customers want to be served,» Wee said.

    The impact of UOB’s omnichannel approach is enhanced by the ecosystems which the bank has forged with like-minded partners for the customer’s benefit.

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  • Apple Pay focussing on wider NFC adoption

    Apple Pay focussing on wider NFC adoption

    Apple has been trying to replace your wallet with your iPhone for years now. Despite the relatively wide adoption of Apple Pay (at least in the States), however, it’s still not abundant enough to make you think twice about leaving your wallet at home. One of the main reasons for that is that Apple, in its typical fashion, has restrained the things developers can use the available hardware and software for. But it seems that might be changing very soon.

    Apple recently announced changes coming to the way NFC can be used on its iPhones in combination with Apple Pay during a conference for electronic transactions. Called Transact, the conference was held in Las Vegas in late April and was host to a rare Apple presentation that’s not during one of the company’s own events.

    Apple is looking to make it easier for businesses to integrate NFC payments into the Apple Pay ecosystem. To do that, it is going to allow its Core NFC framework to work with multiple NFC formats. Currently, Apple only supports one format called NFC Data Exchange Format. Three new formats are expected to be added with the release of iOS 13. These changes, among many others, will likely become official during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2019 that starts on June 3.

    But NFC formats don’t matter to users, they care about what that means for the way they use their devices. There will be some noticeable improvements in that area if Apple’s plans come to fruition. The company’s goal is to make paying for almost everything as easy and convenient as possible. Let’s take a look at what’s its vision.One example given at the presentation was the so-called micro-mobility, which is a fancy term for all the scooter-renting services like Bird and Lime. Right now, each of those comes with its own app that you can use not only to locate a scooter but mostly to pay for your time using it. Needing an app and an account adds friction, as experts call it, which reduces the number of people that use the service. Apple is working in cooperation with some of these companies to remove that extra step. In the future, tapping on the NFC chip of the scooter will allow you to rent it straight from Apple Pay. This will not only make it easier for non-frequent users to rent scooters but will also improve security, as you’re not sharing payment information with yet another entity.

    And then there are parking meters. The ones that allow mobile payments come with their own app as well. Similar to the scooter approach, Apple aims to cut out the unnecessary step of installing and logging into various apps (companies still get their money, after all) by handling everything within Apple Pay. The same technology can be applied to almost anything, from vending machines to public transport and all sorts of venues that you need to pay to get into.

    But NFC is not only useful for payments, but it can also carry all sorts of information. A few companies are already partnering with Apple to streamline the sign-up process for their loyalty programs by using NFC instead of paper forms people need to fill out.

    Once the ball starts rolling, we’ll likely see more and more businesses joining Apple’s initiative. This move will strengthen its ecosystem and tie down iPhone users to the brand even more than they already are. Hopefully, it will also nudge Google to put more effort into its own Google Pay.

  • Australian dollar slides Again

    Australian dollar slides Again

    The Australian dollar has fallen Tuesday, buying 69.45 US cents from 69.75 US cents on Monday.

    Yesterday, the local currency lost ground as the stalemate in Sino-US trade talks clouded the outlook for the Asian giant in its demand for resources.

    The Aussie dollar slipped 0.4 percent to 69.75 US cents on Monday and ever closer to the recent four-month trough at 69.60 US cents.

    China is a major buyer of commodities from Australia so any threat to its trade is considered a potential negative for the currency.

    Investors also use the Aussie as a liquid proxy for China plays, in this case shorting it as well as the yuan.

    Joseph Capurso, a senior currency strategist at CBA, noted that Washington was due to release a “Section 232” report into the national security implications of car imports this week, which could give President Donald Trump more ammunition in his trade disputes.

    “Global stock markets, and global growth-sensitive currencies such as AUD and NZD, may be hit by fears a ‘trade war’ will spread,” Capurso said.

    “Europe, Japan, Korea, and Mexico are major exporters of cars to the US.”

    The Aussie also faces domestic hurdles from data on wages and jobs due this week, where any sign of weakness would fuel wagers on a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

    The central bank last week emphasized that further improvement was needed in the labor market to bring unemployment down and lift inflation.

    Wage figures for the first quarter are due on Wednesday and are forecast to show modest growth for the year.

    The jobs report on Thursday is expected to show 14,000 net new hires in April, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 5.1 percent.

    “Downside surprises will raise pricing for a rate cut as soon as June,” added Capurso.

    “The AUD can drop more than one US cent if the labor data disappoints.”

    The futures market implies around a 63 percent chance of a quarter-point cut in July and is almost fully priced for a move in August.

    Yields on three-year bonds are already well below the 1.5 percent cash rate at 1.26 percent, and only just above record lows.

    Three-year bond futures were up one tick at 98.750, while the 10-year contract rose one tick to 98.2700.

  • OCBC Cycle 2019 Expands On Green Initiatives

    OCBC Cycle 2019 Expands On Green Initiatives

    The eleventh edition of OCBC Cycle featured new initiatives associated with the environment, adding on to those implemented last year.  About 6,800 cyclists, ranging from casual riders to competitive athletes, participated in the OCBC Cycle event held on Sunday. The event’s eleventh edition expanded on its green initiatives from previous years.

    Cycling is a green sport.  I am especially glad that, this year, we have planned seven new initiatives associated with OCBC Cycle for the environment. Some are modest in scope, but it is our belief that every small thing we do matters, said Samuel Tsien, Group CEO of OCBC Bank in a media statement.

    Last year, OCBC Cycle engaged the help of the Singapore Sports Hub to recycle the plastic bottles that thirsty cyclists use by the hundreds. With the increased focus on environment conservation efforts, OCBC Cycle retained the bottle-recycling arrangements and expanded on its green initiatives this year.

    These include stopping the usage of single-use plastics in its event pack, replacing trophies for the OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships with reusable steel tumblers and used plastic containers into useful items, such as tote bags and furniture.

    Our event banners will be repurposed to make useful items such as tote bags; we will compost all fruit peels to make fertilizer.  Our goal is to work with the Singapore Environment Council to be the first event in Singapore to achieve the ‘Eco Event’ certification, added Tsien.

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  • Deutsche Bank Hires Asia Fixed Income Head

    Deutsche Bank Hires Asia Fixed Income Head

    The German lender’s latest recruit from J. Safra Sarasin is the latest in a series of hires as it looks to grow in the region. Deutsche Bank has hired Eric Leung to lead its Asia fixed income team in its Wealth Management division. The news was confirmed by a representative of the bank, who said he started on Wednesday.

    Leung joins from global pure-play private bank J. Safra Sarasin, where he worked for over a decade, most recently as Executive Director and Head of Fixed Income Asia. Prior to that, he worked at HSBC Private Bank.

    He will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Akshay Prasad, managing director, head of capital markets, Wealth Management.

    Under Lok Yim, the bank’s head of Asia, Middle East and Africa, Deutsche Bank WM has set its sights on Asia’s rich, bolstering its ranks to grow its business, particularly in North Asia.

    In an interview with Reuters in 2018, he said Deutsche Bank is focusing on ultra high net worth clients in the region, those with more than $25 million, and the top end of the $5-$25 million high net worth bracket.

    Deutsche has some $230 billion in assets under management (AUM), $56 billion of which is in Asia, according to Hong Kong-based Asian Private Banker.

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  • Mastercard to Expand Footprint in India

    Mastercard to Expand Footprint in India

    The payments giant is set to make India a vital node in its global infrastructure, which will serve other markets including Southeast Asia.

    Mastercard will invest $1 billion into its India operations as part of a five-year expansion plan, which is aimed at converting the country into a global technology node, its second after the United States, the firm announced on Monday.

    There is a very large presence that Mastercard has built, and now, after having seen the last five years, we are very bullish on the overall Indian economy and what the future looks like, and clearly very excited about the digital payments ecosystem and payments ecosystem in general,» Ari Sarker, co-president, Asia Pacific at Mastercard told.

    About $350 million will go towards setting up a new payments processing center, which is expected to open in the next 18 months and create additional employment for 1,000 people.

    The node will do more than just authorization and processing, handling tasks such as circuit switching for ATMs, prepaid and PoS, e-commerce, and services like fraud mitigation, tokenization, and authentication. It would also be used to balance the processing load between the U.S. and India, and would likely serve other markets, including Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific.

    The firm has invested $1 billion in India in the previous five years as it built up its India workforce from 30 in 2014 to 2,000 today. It is the firm’s second-largest globally after the U.S. in terms of the size of its workforce.

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  • Alipay: Average Chinese tourist spending in Singaporehigher than in any other SEA country over Labour Day

    Alipay: Average Chinese tourist spending in Singaporehigher than in any other SEA country over Labour Day

    The data found that the number of Chinese visitors in Singapore over the Labour Day holiday period almost doubled from last year.

    In addition, the average Chinese traveler spent SGD 325 (RMB 1,611) in Singapore during the Labour Day holiday – higher than in any of the other SEA countries, and a 13% increase from the same period last year.

    Key Singapore-specific findings reveal:

    • Grocery and fresh food supermarkets, followed by department stores and fashion brands saw the highest growth among Chinese visitors during this period
    • The most popular merchants in Singapore were taxis (in-street and via taxi-hailing apps), airport merchants and resort merchants

    General findings reveal:

    • Average overseas spending per user on Alipay increased by nearly 11% to RMB 1,790 (SGD 361)
    • Spending was highest in Europe, the Middle East, and North Asia
    • In terms of the number of transactions, Thailand was the second-most popular destination for Chinese tourists
    • Malaysia and Singapore ranked seventh and ninth in terms of the number of transactions

    Key demographic findings reveal:

    • Chinese seniors are an up-and-coming tourism trend – transactions made by those born in the 1940s and 50s more than doubled, with average spending per user in this age group jumping to RMB 1,622 (SGD 327)
    • About 65% who used Alipay overseas during the Labour Day holiday were female
    • Transactions made by those born in the 2000s increased eight-fold, on average to RMB 506 (SGD 102) during the same period

    In Southeast Asia, tens of thousands of merchants already accept Alipay as a payment platform for Chinese tourists. An earlier joint study from research firm, Nielsen and Alipay found that more than 90% of Chinese tourists would use mobile payment to pay overseas if given the opportunity.

    Alipay has been working with various government bodies, financial institutions and businesses in Southeast Asian countries to further enhance guest experiences and enable seamless access to tourism attractions for Chinese visitors. As a result, they will be able to enjoy more fun in Singapore with faster and more secure mobile transactions through the Alipay smartphone app.

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  • DBS Rolls Out Customer Center of the Future

    DBS Rolls Out Customer Center of the Future

    DBS has retrained its customer center employees to take on new roles as customers become more digitally savvy. Voice biometrics specialists, live chat agents, and customer experience designers are among the 13 new job roles that DBS Bank has introduced in recent years as it creates the customer center of the future, the bank said in a media statement on Thursday.

    As it creates the customer center of the future, the bank has upskilled and retrained over 500 customer center employees and eliminated common customer pain points such as long waiting times. «By investing in our people, we have been able to transform from a labor-intensive department with a high turnover rate to one that is technology-enabled where employees are more fulfilled and armed with future-forward skills,» said Geeta Sreeraman, DBS’ Head of Customer Centre, Singapore.

    Customer centers are traditionally labor-intensive departments. At DBS Singapore, its customer center processes over four million inbound customers’ calls every year. But with new digital initiatives and new roles created, call volumes have dropped 12 percent over the last year. Over the next three years, the bank predicts call volumes will drop by a further 20 percent.

    As customers become more digitally-savvy, DBS has expanded its service channels online and on social media to serve its customers. DBS’ customer center has also incorporated technologies such as voice biometrics, chatbots, and data analytics so that callers can experience shorter call waiting times and opt to resolve their banking queries independently via the bank’s website, on their mobile banking app or through the bank’s Facebook or Twitter channels.

    In 2017, DBS committed to investing S$20 million over five years to equip employees with digital skills to become a future-ready workforce. Since then, the bank has rolled out a company-led Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), an AI-based learning tool available 24/7 and scholarships that encourage peer-to-peer learning.

    The new roles in DBS’ Customer Center are:

    1. Social media relations manager
    2. ‘Live’ chat agent
    3. Customer experience designer
    4. Demand manager
    5. Mobile app developer
    6. Business intelligence lead
    7. Content creator
    8. Knowledge platform designer
    9. Voice biometrics specialist
    10. Natural language processing engineer
    11. Scrum master
    12. Digital evangelist
    13. VTM manager
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  • Singapore May Allow Virtual Banks

    Singapore May Allow Virtual Banks

    Singapore may permit virtual banks to operate in the city-state, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong, said DBS chief executive.

    If virtual banking licenses were handed out in Singapore, it would step up the competitive pressures faced by incumbent lenders. However, those who have upgraded their digital capabilities should not fear this new form of competition, said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta.

    To my mind, that’s just basically giving a few more banking licenses, said Gupta, who was speaking in an interview with Bloomberg. Virtual banks could typically generate $100 income at 25 to 30 percent of operating costs, according to experts. In comparison, DBS’s cost-to-income ratio stood at 44 percent last year.

    In the interview, Gupta does not see a problem with having virtual banking licenses in Singapore unless these virtual banks are allowed to operate on more lenient terms than incumbents, such as lower capital requirements held.

    The real challenge is if the regulators create an unlevel playing field, and let the new bank licensees come in and do banking on different terms, he said. However, he felt that most regulators don’t seem to be inclined to do that.

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