All articles by Charles Davis
Charles Davis
Spotlight hits US overdraft charges
The study, conducted by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), found that financial institutions generated $17.5 billion of overdraft fee income last year an average of $1.94 for every dollar borrowed, mostly from debit and ATM transactions made by consumers unaware they were over their limit
How to Become a Lemonaire
Umpqua is a small, Oregon-based US bank that has made a name for itself with its cutting-edge branches, a customer service-led sales culture and unique marketing campaigns Its latest initiative is typical of the bank: an SME banking campaign based around helping children set up lemonade stalls
Wal-Mart follows prepaid card launch with basic banking drive
Weeks after abandoning its controversial bid for an industrial loan charter (ILC), US retail giant Wal-Mart has unveiled a major expansion into financial services, including opening 1,000 financial centres by the end of 2008 in its stores so customers can pay bills, cash pay cheques and obtain other services. The new MoneyCenters will be opened in about one-quarter of Wal-Marts 4,000-plus US stores, initially in areas where customers were already doing some banking at the stores customer service desks.The worlds largest retailer says it plans to double the number of its existing Money-Centers to 450 from 225 by the end of the year, and will reach 1,000 stores by the end of 2008.
Segmentation.com
Bank of Internet USA is a relatively new, small-scale US retail banking competitor that stands out from the crowd because of its online-only business model targeting very specific market segments such as recreational vehicle owners Theres branching, and then there is cyberbranching, or so says Gary Lewis Evans, CEO of Bank of Internet USA, an internet-only bank that is hoping to redefine markets and banking, for that matter