The well-known international financial magazine Global Finance on Tuesday held an online ceremony to announce the “Best Global Bank Awards 2021” winners. CTBC Bank Co (中國信託銀行) was named the “Best Bank in Taiwan” for its excellent business performance in revenue, profit and asset scale, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Global Finance also credited CTBC for its digital innovation and team efforts in assisting customers with applying for government relief loans during the pandemic.
The awards’ organizer said that CTBC has continuously made inroads into overseas markets despite intense market competition. This year, the bank increased its stake in LH Financial Group PCL to 46.6 percent, making it the largest shareholder of the Thai group and further expanding its cross-border financial services.
Photo courtesy of CTBC Bank Co
In the Asia-Pacific region, CTBC also continues to retain its leadership in merger and acquisition financing and in renewable energy project financing, the organizer said. It has been repeatedly commissioned by top enterprises and international private equity funds to act as a lead bank in coordinating deals.
CTBC said that due to the rise of digital banking and the effect of COVID-19, the number of visitors to its branches has fallen by 12 percent in the past two years, while the number of mobile banking customers has increased 47 percent over the period.
This indicates that customers are willing to use digital financial services, CTBC said.
Corporate customers have also shifted their transactions from physical to digital channels, with the number of transactions via mobile apps growing 144 percent last year.
During the pandemic, CTBC has actively built contactless services and introduced digital banking services into relief loans for workers. This year, about 99 percent of workers’ relief loans were applied for online, and 97 percent of their applications were completed through the bank’s fully automated intelligent processing system, CTBC said.
In addition, CTBC has processed more than 360,000 relief loan applications for the second consecutive year, topping other private banks, it said.
CTBC has also taken the lead in adopting Apple Inc’s Business Chat financial service, which is integrated directly into Apple’s Messages app, in a bid to develop a unique financial ecosystem and better serve its customers.
The app turns customers’ iPhones into a ticket machine and a working desk, while helping customers pay fees, the bank said. The service plans to add features to help customers find nearby merchants participating in CTBC’s reward scheme, and further drive development of local businesses, it said.
During the pandemic, CTBC won the “Most Helpful Banks in Asia Pacific During COVID-19” and “Most Helpful Transaction Bank during COVID-19 in Taiwan” awards from The Asian Banker magazine.
This year, the bank has been awarded “Best Bank in Taiwan” titles by three globally renowned magazines: Global Finance, Asiamoney and FinanceAsia.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
CARBON REDUCTION: ‘As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, we recognize our mission in environmental protection,’ TSMC executive Y.P. Chyn said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday launched its first zero-waste center in Taichung to repurpose major manufacturing waste, which translates into savings of NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in environmental costs a year. The environmental cost savings include a carbon reduction benefit of 40,000 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon offset of over 110 Daan Forest Parks, the chipmaker said. The Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center is part of the chipmaker’s greater efforts to reach its net zero emissions goal in 2050, aligning with the UN’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal. The center could reduce TSMC’s outsourced waste processing
RSS