Overseas Chinese banks
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Overseas Chinese-focused banks excelled in commerce, finance, and many other industries. While catering to Chinese immigrants in foreign countries, these banks are not controlled by the Chinese government, nor do they have any ties with the Chinese government. These independent banks were originally to remit money back to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
but now they cater to the people of their adopted countries. These
overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
banks contributed to a large extent to the development of the countries and communities in which they were located. Overseas Chinese banks normally refer to Chinese
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
s outside
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(including
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
).


Southeast Asia

The Overseas Chinese banks are mostly situated in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
where the local overseas Chinese population plays a significant if not dominant role in the local economy.


Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...


Bank Buana
(Part of
United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...
) * Lippo Banking Group
Panin Bank
(No.11 Overseas Chinese Bank)
NISP Bank
(Part of
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (), often known as OCBC Bank (), is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in OCBC Centre, Singapore. OCBC Bank was born out of the Great Depression thr ...
)


Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

*
United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...
(No.1 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (), often known as OCBC Bank (), is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in OCBC Centre, Singapore. OCBC Bank was born out of the Great Depression thr ...
(No.2 Overseas Chinese Bank)


Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

*
Public Bank A public bank is a bank, a financial institution, in which a state, municipality, or public actors are the owners. It is an enterprise under government control.
(No.4 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Hong Leong Bank Hong Leong Bank Berhad (; ) is a major public listed banking group in Malaysia. History Early beginnings Hong Leong Bank began its operations in 1905 in Kuching, Sarawak, under the name of ''Kwong Lee Mortgage & Remittance Company''. The c ...
(No.6 Overseas Chinese Bank)


Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

* Banco de Oro Universal Bank *
Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, Filipino/ tl, Bangko Nasyonal ng Pilipinas, lit=; es, Banco Nacional Filipino; Hokkien ) is one of the largest banks in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, durin ...
(No.12 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company The Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (), commonly known as Metrobank, is the fourth largest bank in the Philippines. It offers various financial services, from regular banking to insurance. It is the commercial and retail banking arm of GT C ...
(No.9 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) () is one of the largest universal banks in the Philippines with total consolidated resources of Php 959 billion. It was established in 1960 as a development bank and is licensed by the Bangko Se ...
(No.14 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Chinabank China Banking Corporation (; ), commonly known as China Bank, is a Filipino bank established in 1920. It was the first privately owned local commercial bank in the Philippines initially catering to the banking needs of Chinese Filipino businesspe ...
(No.10 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Security Bank Security Bank Corporation (SBC) is a universal bank in the Philippines. It was established on June 18, 1951, as Security Bank and Trust Company and was the first private and Filipino-controlled bank of the post-World War II period. Security B ...
(No.13 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Philippine Savings Bank The Philippine Savings Bank () (shortened as PSBank or abbreviated as PSB) is a savings bank based in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Metrobank and is the 2nd-largest savings bank in the Philippines after BPI Family Savings Bank. Subsid ...
(No.15 Overseas Chinese Bank) (part of
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company The Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (), commonly known as Metrobank, is the fourth largest bank in the Philippines. It offers various financial services, from regular banking to insurance. It is the commercial and retail banking arm of GT C ...
)


Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

*
Bangkok Bank Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited ( th, ธนาคารกรุงเทพ, Royal Thai General System of Transcription, RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep) is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand. Its branch network includes over 1,165 ...
(No.5 Overseas Chinese Bank and No.1
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
Bank) *
Kasikorn Bank Kasikornbank ( th, ธนาคารกสิกรไทย, , Teochew: Khai-thài Ngîng-hâng, , stylised in all caps), often stylised as KBank and formerly known as the Thai Farmers Bank is a banking group in Thailand. KBank was establishe ...
(No.7 Overseas Chinese Bank and No.3
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
Bank) *
Bank of Ayudhya Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited, branded and commonly referred to as Krungsri (sometimes stylized as krungsri), is the fifth largest bank in Thailand in terms of assets, loans, and deposits. Through its branches and service outlets are in ...
(No.8 Overseas Chinese Bank) *
Bank of Asia A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
(Part of
United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...
) * Radanasin Bank (Part of
United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...
to be merged with
Bank of Asia A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
)


United States

In addition to Southeast Asia, the second location where most overseas Chinese banks are is the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. However, unlike Southeast Asia where Chinese play dominant roles in the local economy, the
Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
s’ share of the highly developed American economy is small and most overseas Chinese banks in the United States are privately held.


Strategy for survival

The oversea Chinese banks in the United States are hardly able to compete with the well established mainstream banks on equal terms and their assets are often far less than that of those well established mainstream banks. Therefore, most overseas Chinese banks in the United States adopted a different strategy than their Southeast Asian counterparts by serving a particular segment of the market. Most overseas Chinese banks are relatively small banks in terms of assets and they began as community banks catering to their local Chinese community in the United States. A few of the banks would later expand to the national level but most remain at the community level, tailoring to the specific needs of the local overseas Chinese, such as helping them to remit money back to China, to provide finance for import and export businesses, and real estate.


Distribution in the United States

Most overseas Chinese banks in the United States are concentrated in the western part of the country and in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
mirroring the traditional population distribution of the Chinese Americans in the United States.Overseas Chinese Bank in USA
/ref> Recently, some overseas Chinese banks have begun to open offices in other parts of the country, following the newer Chinese
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
pattern.


List of Overseas Chinese Banks in the United States

*It is important to note that these banks are ''not controlled or influenced by the Chinese government''. These banks are ''independently and privately owned'', and cater to the Chinese and Asian populations of their respective countries.* *
Abacus Federal Savings Bank Abacus Federal Savings Bank () is an American bank founded in December 1984 by a group of business leaders from the Chinese American community in New York City. Abacus was the only U.S. bank prosecuted in relation to the 2008 financial crisis; ...

American First National Bank
*
American Continental Bank American Continental Bank () is an overseas Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in Industry, California, with a branch office in San Gabriel, California, the bank is privately held and was established on October 6, 2003. The bank w ...
*American Plus Bank * American Premier Bank * Asia Bank N.A.
Asian Pacific National BankAsiana Capital
* Bank of the Orient
California Business Bank
*
Cathay Bank Cathay Bank () is an American bank founded in 1962. Cathay is headquartered in Chinatown, Los Angeles, with a corporate center in nearby El Monte, California. It has branches in California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, I ...
*Chinatown Federal Savings Bank * Chinese American Bank
Concord Bank N.A.Eastbank N.A.
*
East West Bank East West Bank (), the primary subsidiary of East West Bancorp, Inc., is the largest publicly traded bank headquartered in Southern California, United States. It was founded in 1973 in Los Angeles to serve the Chinese American community in S ...
* EverTrust Bank * First American International Bank
First Choice Bank
*First General Bank
GBC International Bank
*
Global Commerce Bank Global Commerce Bank () was an ethnic Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in Doraville, Georgia, this privately held community bank was established on August 18, 1995, and closed in 2012. The location of Global Commerce Bank in th ...

Golden Bank
*
Golden Security Bank Golden Security Bank was a bank headquartered in Rosemead, California Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a clust ...

Great Eastern Bank
* Los Angeles National Bank
Mega Bank
*
MetroCorp Bancshares MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. (MetroCorp, Nasdaq: MCBI) was an American banking corporation headquartered in Chinatown and in Greater Sharpstown in Houston, Texas.Omni Bank (California) New Omni Bank, N.A. () is an FDIC-Insured commercial bank, headquartered in Alhambra, California, United States. It has branch offices in Rowland Heights, California, Alhambra, California, and Arcadia, California. New Omni Bank, N.A. was origi ...

Pacific Alliance Bank
* Pacific Global Bank * Preferred Bank
Royal Business Bank
*
Southwestern National Bank Southwestern National Bank ( zh, t=美南銀行, s=美南银行, p=Měi Nán Yínháng) is a United States based community bank with headquarters in Chinatown, Houston, Chinatown and in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Greater Sharpstown in Houston, ...
*
Tomato Bank Tomato Bank (), more commonly styled as TomatoBank, was an overseas Chinese bank in the United States. Headquartered in Alhambra, California, with branch offices in Cerritos, California, Diamond Bar, California, Industry, California, and West ...
*
United Commercial Bank United Commercial Bank (Chinese: 聯合銀行) was an overseas Chinese bank in the United States, based in San Francisco, California. It was a subsidiary of UCBH Holdings. Founded in 1974 as United Federal Savings and Loan Association, it cha ...
*
United International Bank United International Bank () was an overseas Chinese bank in the United States, formerly headquartered in New York City. The bank established itself as a locally based community bank serving Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in the New York ...
* United Orient Bank
United Pacific Bank
*
Universal Bank A universal bank participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance.Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...


Banco Cathay de Costa Rica


References

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Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
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