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Its popularity is revealed in its financials. In 2018, total income from SME banking in Indonesia rose 12%, while loan balances increased 20% to Rp18.8 trillion ($1.3 billion) from Rp15.7 trillion in 2017. Deposit balance jumped 32% while the current account balance grew 11%.

In terms of both quality and quantity, Mandiri Sekuritas’ corporate and investment banking business impresses. During the Asiamoney awards period, the securities house – which is a subsidiary of Bank Mandiri – ranked third for investment banking revenue in Indonesia, earning $11 million for a 5.5% market share, behind Standard Chartered in first and BNP Paribas in second place, according to Dealogic data.

Citi’s operation in Indonesia is envied by both domestic banks and other international lenders alike. And for good reason. The US firm is one of the few international banks in the southeast Asian country to cover corporate and investment, commercial and consumer banking.

In an era when legacy banks are challenged to win Asia’s so-called K-Pop market (and in media-flooded Taiwan, that’s a bigger challenge than in many other markets), Standard Chartered thinks it may have got it right. Its smart in-app keyboard aims to extend and enhance its digital offering, providing tailored social media channels for the island’s affluent millennials.

Nepal’s financial economy is a work in progress: the country has too many banks, and way too many bad banks. There are too few big companies, so the investment banking divisions of commercial lenders tend to be an afterthought. But there are some exceptions, and Nepal Investment Bank is the best of these.

Launched in 2010 with paid-up capital of $14.8 million, Mega Bank has cleared every obstacle placed in its way. Size is no longer an issue, thanks to five judiciously timed and priced acquisitions and mergers, and its local initial public offering, in 2013, was 22 times oversubscribed.

Nepal is the classic market for small and medium-sized enterprises. It is fair to say that for decades, SMEs have formed the backbone of the economy. Nepal had very few big companies and a large number of people who lacked access to a formal bank account.

Digital mobile banking is about to take off in a big way in Nepal. The landlocked state boasts a young and tech-savvy population, a cellphone penetration rate of roughly 130% according to state operator Nepal Telecom, and a banking system that has finally recognized the pressing need to embrace the digital age.

Corporate and social responsibility hasn’t gained much traction in industrialized, ultra-capitalist Taiwan, but E.Sun is one bank that takes it seriously. Chief executive Joseph Huang says it is part of E.Sun’s ethos.

Nabil Bank is considered a trailblazer in Nepal. By local standards, it is quite old; it was set up in 1984, during the first wave of economic liberalization, when it was granted a coveted licence to become what was then the only privately run, onshore lender.

By any measure, Standard Chartered Bank is one of the best commercial lenders in Nepal and the clear leader among the foreign banks. It has been in Nepal since 1987, when it registered as a joint venture. It has since listed on the Nepal Stock Exchange. With 12 branches dotted around the country, including four in Kathmandu, it plays an important role in the domestic financial system. In an overbanked market, its name suggests stability, safety and respectability, while its low cost of funding gives it a competitive edge.