The banking sector is a pillar of the world’s economic fabric and is today facing a major revolution due to the demands of sustainable development objectives and the evolution of sustainable finance tools. This article analyses the impact of green credit on commercial banks’ performance based on data from 10 commercial banks in China between 2012 and 2022. The study found that in the short term, the implementation of green credit has a positive effect on the income level of commercial banks’ intermediate activities and a moderating effect on their return on total assets and non-performing loan ratio.

While extensive research has explored interconnectedness, volatility spillovers, and risk transmission across financial systems, the comparative dynamics between Islamic and conventional banks during crises, particularly in specific regions such as Saudi Arabia, are underexplored. This study investigates risk transmissions and contagion among banks operating in Islamic and conventional modes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Daily banking stock data spanning November 2018 to November 2023, encompassing two major crises—COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war—were analyzed. Using the frequency TVP-VAR approach, the study reveals that average total connectedness for both banking groups exceeds 50%, with short-run risk transmission dominating over long-term effects. Graphical visualizations highlight time-varying connectedness, driven predominantly by short-run spillovers, with similar patterns observed in both Islamic and conventional banking networks. The main contribution of this paper is the insight that long-term investment strategies are crucial for mitigating potential risks in the Saudi banking system, given its limited diversification opportunities.

This study analyzes the influence of five primary factors—inflation, capital ratio, deposits, non-performing loans, and bank size—on the performance of banks in Vietnam. Our sample encompasses 26 commercial banks from 2014 to 2023. The analysis incorporates data sourced from commercial banks’ financial statements and annual reports. Our findings indicate that banks with higher capital ratios and sizes generally exhibit superior performance. Moreover, inflation positively influences the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks throughout the selected timeframe. In contrast, non-performing loans and deposits are inverse to bank performance. Our findings offer novel insights into the factors influencing bank performance in a growing economy like Vietnam, along with recommendations for Vietnamese commercial banks and the State Bank of Vietnam to implement effective methods to improve bank performance.

Since the Reform and Opening up, GDP of the cities on eastern bank of the Pearl River Estuary in Guangdong Province were higher than the eastern bank cities. Therefore, this article aims to modify the urban gravity model combines it with the entropy weight method to calculate urban quality and applies it to measure the degree of connectivity between cities over the past decades. The research aims to explore whether cities with higher economic output have a greater attraction for surrounding cities, and whether the eastern bank cities can also promote the development of the west. Through detailed data collection and analysis, this essay reveals the dynamic changes of the gravity among cities and its influence factors such as economic, transportation and urban development. The research results indicate that the strongest gravitational force between cities on the east and west banks is between Dongguan and Zhongshan, rather than between Shenzhen and cities on the west bank. This demonstrates that the connection between cities on the east and west banks is primarily constrained by geographical factors, and the geographical location of a city influences on surrounding cities significantly. In particular, Dongguan and Zhongshan play a key role in connecting the eastern and western bank of the Pearl River Estuary, rather than Shenzhen, which is traditionally considered to have the highest economic aggregate. In addition, the study also found that the COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on inter-city communication, resulting in a decline in inter-city gravity in recent years.

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era, the rapid digitalisation of services poses both opportunities and challenges for the banking sector. This study addresses how adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and online and mobile banking advancements can influence customer satisfaction, particularly in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Despite significant investments in AI and digital banking technologies, banks often struggle to align these innovations with customer expectations and satisfaction. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), this research investigates the impact of customer satisfaction with online banking (C_O) on AI integration (I_A) and mobile banking convenience (C_M). The SEM model reveals that customer satisfaction with online banking significantly influences AI integration (path coefficient of 0.40) and mobile banking convenience (path coefficient of 0.68). These results highlight a crucial problem: while technological advancements in banking are growing, their effectiveness is highly dependent on customer satisfaction with existing digital services. The study underscores the need for banks to prioritise enhancing online banking experiences as a strategic lever to improve AI integration and mobile banking convenience. Consequently, the research recommends that Nigerian banks develop comprehensive frameworks to evaluate and optimise their technology integration strategies, ensuring that technological innovations align with customer needs and expectations in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

ESG (environmental, social and governance, a framework used to assess an organisation’s business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues) and Digital Transformation (the process of using digital technologies to change a business’s operations, products and services by integrating digital solutions into all areas of the business, which can lead to cultural and technological changes) are emerging issues across different industries, including the banking field. There has been limited research focusing on exploring the linkages between ESG, Digital Transformation and Customer Behaviour in the banking area, especially within developing countries such as Vietnam. Based on this gap, this study analyses and assesses the role of Digital Transformation and ESG on customer behaviour towards brands in the banking sector in Ho Chi Minh City. The research employed the quantitative research methods with the combination of fundamental analytical methods such as statistics, Cronbach’s alpha reliability, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), measurement models and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The analysis was based on survey data from 550 customers who are the commercial banks’ current customers and live in Ho Chi Minh City, yielding 514 valid responses. Using SPSS and SMART PLS software, the study provided notable results. Specifically: (1) The component factors of ESG, including Environmental Issues (EN), Social Issues (SO), Government Issues (GO) and Digital Transformation (DT), positively influence Customer Behaviour (CB); (2) The component factors of ESG, including Environmental Issues (EN), Social Issues (SO) and Government Issues (GO), play a mediating role in the relationship between Digital Transformation (DT) and Customer Behaviour (CB).