Last year thousands of quake victims fled homes in Japan, leaving their cash cards behind in the hurly burly of survival. Luckily, one bank has the answer, ATMs that use a palm-scanner to issue money.

India's foreign exchange reserves climbed by $2.48 billion to $306.84 billion for the week ended Dec 2, rising for the first time in five weeks due to an increase in the value of foreign currency assets and gold reserves, official data showed.

China's foreign exchange reserves rose 30.3 percent year-on-year to hit $3.1975 trillion by the end of June, authorities said.

The People's Bank of China, or the central bank, said that funds outstanding for foreign exchange in financial institutions increased 277.33 billion yuan ($42.83 billion) over the May to June period to hit 24.67 trillion yuan, reported Xinhua.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have crossed the $18 billion mark, a record level in the country's history, says Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Gilani said this was achieved despite major economic challenges like last year's devastating floods, the escalating prices of fuel in international markets and global recession.