The Asian Banker, a prestigious regional publication, sponsored the awards.
The 2003 Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services program was created to recognize the pursuit of excellence among the retail financial institutions in the Asian region.
It is becoming an increasingly important source of benchmarking data that is beneficial to the players in the market.
Banco de Oro launched BDO Cash Card in December 2002, and has since gained significant users and acceptance in the market for its numerous innovative functionalities.
It is a prepaid, re-loadable, multipurpose, electronic debit card, yet unlinked to any deposit account.
The winner of the best retail bank in the region is Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore).
The best retail bank by country are: Brunei –HSBC (Brunei); China–Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; Hong Kong– Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong); India–ICICI Bank; Indonesia–Bank Central Asia; Japan– Citibank NA; Malaysia–Public Bank Berhad; Pakistan–Askari Commercial Bank; Philippines–Bank of the Philippine Islands; Singapore–DBS Bank; South Korea–Kookmin Bank; Taiwan–Chinatrust Commercial Bank; Thailand–Bangkok Bank; and, Vietnam– ANZ Bank (Vietnam). Winners of the operational excellence in retail financial services are: HDFC Bank (India); Kasikornbank (Thailand); and, Shinhan Bank (South Korea).
Aside from Banco de Oro, the other winners of the product/service excellence in retail financial services are: Bank of East Asia (Hong Kong) for Cyberwealth; Bank Rakyat Indonesia for Micro-business; RHB Bank Berhad (Malaysia) for RHB EVO Mastercard; and, Taishin Bank (Taiwan) for Infinite Platinum Card.
Outstanding Retail Banker of the Year 2003 was Wilson Chia, head of Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Singapore.