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Private banking in the Philippines is about to get a whole lot bigger. For decades, many high net-worth Filipinos were served offshore, in cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong. But that’s changing. Credit Suisse, the best private bank and high-end wealth manager, is expanding its footprint in the country.

Edwin Bautista, president and chief executive of Union Bank of the Philippines, has serious digital ambitions. His financial institution is the country’s standout digital bank, and a worthy winner of this award. But this is just the start. A trailblazer in artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, Union Bank is using blockchain to reach rural lenders, partnering with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure to develop a blockchain-based interbank switch.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) has been honing its small and medium-sized enterprise operations for years, creating tailored services that cater to all types of SMEs, whatever their size, industry, and ambition. Rizal Microbank meets the needs of micro-sized SMEs, which are estimated to comprise 99.6% of all registered onshore businesses, while its eWMN Programme champions female-owned corporates, offering loans, business education and training, as well as organising networking forums and seminars.

Bank of the Philippine Islands has been a corporate social responsibility leader for decades. Its BPI Foundation, which celebrated its 40th birthday in May this year, continues to channel capital to a huge number of worthy causes. But it is over the last three years that the lender has really taken its CSR profile to the next level, helping to improve social cohesion and environmental protection, aligning itself with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the national development agenda, and driving domestic innovation and financial inclusion.

It’s hard to compete against DBS, led by Piyush Gupta; the bank reported record earnings last year, with total income rising 4% to S$11.92 billion ($8.7 billion) while net profit, also up 4%, came in at S$4.39 billion. Of the income, Singapore accounted for S$7.79 billion, up 3.4%.

When it comes to corporate and investment banking in Taiwan, Yuanta Securities remains the institution to beat. It ranked top in debt capital markets volumes in the 12 months to the end of March, completing 40 deals worth $2.3 billion, for a 14.5% share of the market, according to data from Dealogic.

Citi is the clear winner of the award as best international bank, a lender that, unlike some others, has never wavered in its commitment to the island’s economy.

CTBC Bank has long been a leader in private banking in Taiwan.

When asked to identify a key long-term priority, E.Sun president and chief executive Joseph Huang points to the importance of the lender’s digital solutions. Every bank is big on digital these days, but some take it more seriously than others.

Taiwan Business Bank has never wavered from its original remit: providing invaluable financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Credit Suisse’s continued domination of the investment banking sector in Indonesia has clearly helped Credit Suisse in the private banking space. The bank claims that 70% of Indonesia’s billionaires bank with it: with Credit Suisse leveraging its domination on the corporate side into private banking.

During 2017 and 2018, Bank Danamon transformed what had merely been a common or garden mobile banking app into a new digital banking channel, as its D-Mobile morphed into D-Bank.