Cedar on Banking

Post-2008 regulations, evolving markets, and new technologies have fundamentally reshaped treasury functions. Heightened focus on liquidity, capital, and risk driven by Basel norms has made liquidity costlier and elevated the treasurer’s role from cash management to a strategic driver of balance-sheet growth, risk control, and regulatory compliance. Treasury processes now emphasise integrated plat...

Treasury has evolved from a back-office role into a strategic, value-adding function as banks face complex investment products, tighter regulations and changing business models. Beyond managing liquidity and returns, treasury is now expected to strengthen risk management, transparency and decision-making—expectations heightened after the financial crisis. Reliance on spreadsheets and homegrown too...

Many banks fail to fully realise the potential of their credit card businesses because they overlook fundamentals while chasing best practices or technology upgrades. Experience across mature and developing markets shows that poor execution—such as undifferentiated products, fragmented portfolios, weak risk–reward balance, and lack of coordinated strategy—undermines performance, even after heavy i...

Omnichannel banking is a cross-channel strategy that delivers a seamless, consistent customer experience across physical and digital touchpoints, improving service quality while reducing costs and boosting profitability. Unlike multichannel models, omnichannel integrates channels and customer data, allowing customers to start and complete journeys such as loan applications—across branches, mobile,...

Islamic banking’s next growth phase will be driven by differentiation and innovation, not just Shariah compliance. Over the past five years, global Islamic banking assets grew 11% versus 7% for conventional banks, with expansion extending beyond the Middle East to Africa and Asia. Growth has been supported by rising customer demand, regulatory openings, and the success of Islamic “windows” within...

Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Management Consulting International Despite being perceived as over-banked, the Middle East banking market offers significant growth opportunities across segments. Corporate banking remains commoditized in trade and contracting finance, but untapped areas such as manufacturing, treasury, and cross-border structured finance can drive higher income. Commercial banking i...

Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Management Consulting International There is growing global concern that bank CEOs and CFOs are excessively paid, prompting closer review of executive compensation practices. Analysis of leading banks shows that relying solely on short-term financial performance to assess executives is flawed. Banks must balance financial and non-financial measures, such as digital tr...

A digital core banking system is essential for banks to innovate faster and respond to evolving customer expectations for personalized, efficient, and digital-first services. While many banks have launched modern apps and websites, true digital transformation cannot be achieved at the channel level alone. It requires digitization across the entire bank, anchored by a modern digital core. A future-...

In this episode, Chetan Parekh from Cedar Consulting emphasizes that transaction banking has become a top priority for corporate banks. As low interest rates shift revenue from interest to fee income, banks are targeting a $1 trillion global opportunity. To improve profitability, banks must lower their cost-to-income ratios by choosing to be market disruptors rather than being disrupted. Parikh su...

Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Management Consulting International This year is your critical breakout moment to embrace AI and full digital transformation. With global net income rising, you must transition to AI-driven customer acquisition, credit, and instant delivery to remain competitive. You should clearly define your target audience and tap into the "gold mine" of underserved SME b...

Islamic finance is a Sharia-compliant financial system rooted in principles developed over 1,400 years ago from the Quran and Sunnah. It emphasizes ethical, interest-free, and socially responsible finance. Core principles include the prohibition of interest (riba), avoidance of excessive uncertainty (gharar) and gambling (maysir), risk sharing, asset-backed transactions, transparency, and investme...