All articles by Dan Jones
Dan Jones
Overdoing overdrafts?
A quarter of Americans with bank accounts have paid overdraft charges over the past 12 months, with banks and credit unions collecting almost $24 billion in such fees in 2008, according to a new study from the Centre for Responsible Lending (CRL). The report has been published at a time when most of the big commercial banks in the US are radically overhauling overdraft policies to make them more transparent and assuage a growing political ire against excessive retail banking fees and charges (see RBI 619).
OCBC extends Mighty Savers plan to Malaysia
Following a successful move into Indonesia, Singapores OCBC has begun offering its Mighty Savers branded product line in Malaysia. The brand was first introduced in Singapore in February 2007 to provide parents with the tools to help their children understand and develop the habit of saving Since its introduction, OCBC Bank says it has seen a three-fold increase in the number of childrens saving accounts being opened.
Crédit Agricole publishes four-year plan for Emporiki
Crdit Agricole has reaffirmed its commitment to Emporiki following a wide-ranging internal review, during which Frances largest bank considered selling or merging its Greek-based subsidiary Conceding that it had made mistakes with its Greek unit in the past, Crdit Agricole said it would take a 500 million ($743.1 million) impairment charge in its third-quarter results in respect of Emporiki, in which it holds an 82 percent stake. Emporiki posted a first half loss of 358 million and expects to post a pre-tax loss for the full year of around 550 million, which it aims to reduce to around 300 million to 350 million in 2010.
The changing world of card fees
Dan Jones examines the importance of card fee income to the revenue mix of 15 banks in developed and emerging economies.Banks across the world saw rising card income burnish their net fee and commission income figures for the first half of 2009, even as changing consumer habits in the US saw banks in the country witness the opposite trend, RBI research examining card income at 15 leading international banks shows.
Wells Fargo launches customer-to-customer mobile money transfers
Wells Fargo has hit the US market with a mobile customer-to-customer payment option, allowing its customers to transfer money to each other via the Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service.
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On the ball
Standard Chartereds $130 million deal to sponsor UK football club Liverpool illustrates once again how important the sport is to the international banking industry The majority of international tournaments, including next years World Cup in South Africa, are all now being supported by banks Dan Jones reports.Standard Chartereds four-year shirt sponsorship deal with leading UK football club Liverpool is the latest in a long line of high profile tie-ups between financial institutions and football clubs
NAB, Visa in Australian contactless push
National Australia Bank (NAB) and Visa have started a major roll-out of contactless payment readers with a target of 2,500 in selected merchants over the next three months.
Brazilian IPO to fund 600 branches, boost capital, says Santander
Spains largest bank Santander will raise up to BRL15.6 billion ($8.6 billion) with the IPO of its Brazilian unit, Santander Brasil According to the IPO prospectus, Santander will use 20 percent of the funds to improve its funding structure, with the remaining 10 percent used to increase its Basel capital requirements.
Mint snapped up by rival for $170 million
Only two years after its September 2007 launch, online US consumer finance management tool Mint.com has been snapped up by rival Intuit in a deal worth $170 million. Mint, which offers a free, one-stop-shop service tracking spending and online account management, which it then aggregates and analyses to give consumers ways to save money, has enjoyed spectacular growth
Australian Senate backs ‘four pillars’ rule
Australias four pillars policy, introduced in 1990 to block mergers between the countrys four largest banks Westpac, Commonwealth Bank (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB) and ANZ should stay in force, according to an Australian Senate enquiry. While the Big Four, in particular the chief executives of ANZ and Westpac, have argued that the strategy designed to also promote competition and protect consumers prevents them from competing on the global stage, it has been credited with limiting the effects of the global banking crisis spreading to Australia.