SINGAPORE — Customers in Asia-Pacific have picked their favorite banks as lenders scramble to meet consumer expectations in a fast-changing environment.
After a prolonged period of high inflation — and interest rates — banks in the region are starting to navigate the global trend of lower rates. They’re also facing technological innovation that has the potential to transform the sector, as generative AI gains traction around the world.
Against this backdrop, CNBC and market research firm Statista surveyed 22,000 individuals with a checking or savings account in 14 major economies. The report below — the first of its kind — is designed to highlight the banks that best meet consumer needs in their respective markets.
For the survey, participants evaluated their overall satisfaction with a bank, and whether they would recommend it to others. They also rated each based on five criteria: trust, terms and conditions (such as fees and rates), customer service, digital services and quality of financial advice. Read the full methodology here. The ranking only included banks that qualified according to the criteria described in the report.
See below to see which banks made the list in your location.
Source: CNBC & Statista
Dutch bank ING came out top in Australia, against a sea of local competition. Like most economies, Australians valued trust the most and were less concerned on the financial advice they were given.
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Charted: How Many Data Centers do Major Big Tech Companies Have?
Published
1 hour ago
on
June 4, 2024 Graphics/Design:
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
How Many Data Centers do Major Big Tech Companies Have?
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
The Big Tech companies are often compared against each other in many ways: how much money they make, market capitalization, and the newest flavor, generative AI capabilities.
But in their great strides to capture the digital realm, how many huge data facilities do they need for all their services, analytics, and storage?
Sourcing information from Meta, Google, Microsoft, and some third-party estimates for Apple and Amazon, we find out.
Ranked: Big Tech’s Data Facilities
Cloud computing giants—Microsoft and Amazon—have data centers in the triple-digits to accommodate their customers’ burgeoning business demands.
However, there’s no one standard of how big a data center needs to be, so quantity doesn’t automatically translate into greater capacity.
Big Tech CompanyData Centers Microsoft**300 AWS*215 Google25 Meta24 Apple*10
Note: *Third-party estimates vary depending on the source. AWS is usually listed between 160–220 and Apple from 8–10. **Microsoft lists their count as “300+.”
According to Statista, AWS still maintains the biggest market share in the cloud computing segment (31%) even as Microsoft Azure edges ever closer (25%).
In fact, Amazon is aiming to spend $150 billion on more facilities over the next 15 years. Estimates say 26 data centers are currently under construction. All of this, of course, to chase the AI boom.
Despite dominating our digital lives however, Big Tech aren’t the only players when it comes to data center metrics. For example, Digital Realty, a colocation data center provider, would rank alongside Microsoft with 300+ data facilities.
Learn More about Big Tech and AI from Visual Capitalist
If you enjoyed this post, and you’re wondering which Big Tech players have made their forays into AI, check out Ranked: The Most Popular AI Tools. We visualize the most popular AI tools of 2023 along with recent tech adoption cycles and the software products that defined them.
Mapped: The Real GDP Growth of U.S. Regions in 2023
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June 4, 2024 Graphics/Design:
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
The Real GDP Growth of U.S. Regions in 2023
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Distinct variations in regional economic growth were evident throughout America in 2023, driven by differences in industry composition and population dynamics.
This graphic shows real GDP growth across U.S. regions in 2023, based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Which Regions Grew the Fastest in 2023?
Below, we show the U.S. regions with the highest real GDP growth last year:
RankRegionReal GDP Growth 2023 YoYReal GDP 2023 1Southwest+5.1%$2.8T 2Southeast+3.1%$4.9T 3Rocky Mountain+2.9%$837B 4Plains+2.5%$1.4T 5Far West+2.5%$4.5T 6New England+1.8%$1.2T 7Mideast+1.3%$3.9T 8Great Lakes+1.2%$2.9T U.S.+2.5%$22.4T
Outpacing all other regions is the Southwest, fueled by rapid population growth and booming oil production across the state of Texas, one of the fastest growing state economies in 2023.
In addition, electric vehicle factories and battery plants are increasingly emerging across the Sun Belt. This includes a 10 million square foot Tesla facility in Texas and a $320 million battery manufacturing plant and assembly facility in Oklahoma. The combination of lower land, labor, and electricity costs are driving corporate investment in the region.
With the second-highest real GDP growth rate, the Southeast also surpasses the national average.
Just as Texas is attracting industrial production across clean energy technologies, Georgia and Tennessee are emerging as automotive hubs. In fact, Georgia leads the country in electric vehicle assembly and battery plant investment, at a staggering $14.5 billion.
By contrast, growth in the Mideast and New England regions fell below the national average, weighed down by states like Massachusetts and New York as construction, manufacturing, and finance and insurance sectors witnessed slower activity.
Lastly, the Great Lakes region, covering Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana, experienced the lowest growth nationally, at just 1.2% in 2023. This sluggish performance was attributed to a shrinking labor force in Illinois and a contracting manufacturing sector in Ohio amid high interest rates. Moreover, three
Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Bath & Body Works, Carnival, GameStop and more
Australian Supers Should be Bolder on Climate
New report finds Australia’s powerful asset owners are reluctant to take public stands against companies that are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia’s US$2.45 trillion pension system should take a more public role in pressuring companies to improve their climate strategies – including by declaring voting intentions ahead of annual general meetings. That’s the view of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), an investor-led body focused on helping Australia and New Zealand’s…
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How Roaring Kitty’s wealth went from $53,000 to nearly $300 million — and could one day top $1 billion
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Almost five years ago, GameStop champion Keith Gill revealed a $53,000 bet in his favorite video game retailer. Fast forward to this week, and his net worth has ballooned to over $289 million.
The meme stock leader, who can move the stock by simply posting cryptic messages online, shared a screenshot of his portfolio Monday night, showing he held onto his 5 million shares of GameStop and 120,000 call options even after a 21% rally.
He made a whopping $79 million on paper in a single trading day Monday.
Gill, whose handle is “DeepF——Value” on Reddit and “Roaring Kitty” on YouTube and X, started sharing his GameStop positions in September 2019 with a $53,000 stake, encouraging a band of retail traders to squeeze out short selling hedge funds. By the end of the jaw-dropping episode in April 2021, Gill exercised his call options position to have 200,000 common shares in total.
The size of his positions dramatically increased when he resurfaced online three years later. Meanwhile, GameStop, a stock he originally bought because he thought it was a deep value bet, is still struggling with its shift away from brick-and-mortar video game purchases to e-commerce.
Arrows pointing outwards
“The most successful players are those that are just out of their minds. You have to be made of something different to trade like that,” said Michael Khouw, co-founder and chief strategist of OpenInterest.PRO.
“You would never see a professional trader make those kinds of numbers,” Khouw added. “Most of our risk managers would have come down on this way before you ever got to something swinging around like this. It’s just unimaginable.”
Gill could run into some trouble, though. The Wall Street Journal reported that Morgan Stanley’s E-Trade broker was considering booting him because of worries that what he was doing amounted to market manipulation.
CNBC was unable to verify what Gill has shared about his GameStop stake and portfolio.
Next steps?
The last screenshot of Gill’s portfolio showed 120,000 call options against GameStop with a strike price of $20 that expire June 21.
Put another way: If the stock closes above $20 that day, Gill could exercise the options at $20 apiece, leaving him owning an additional 12 million shares. A total of 17 million shares would make
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