All articles by Dan Jones
Dan Jones
A Green Deal from UniCredit
UniCredit has become the latest leading retail bank to aver its commitment to environmentally-friendly banking and is extending its product portfolio accordingly Dan Jones spoke to Roberto Nicastro, deputy CEO and head of the retail business area at UniCredit, about the banks green plans over the coming decade.UniCredit, Italys largest bank by assets, has signed an international partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) through which it will implement a company-wide sustainable banking programme The Green Deal stands as the latest large-scale effort in an increasingly long lineage of environmentally-friendly banking initiatives initiatives that unsurprisingly centre around a growing public desire to act on climate change
Online, same-day bill payment by Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo, which last month came top in a major survey of US websites (see RBI 616), has added to its award-winning range of electronic banking tools with a online bill pay feature The service allows customers to make just in time online bill payments to merchants, such as utility, auto finance and mortgage companies, helping them avoid missing payments or making late payments Currently Wells Fargo offers same-day payment options for a fee with a select group of 460 payees; additional payees continue to be added on an ongoing basis
Getting a buzz from Scotiabank Be
Scotiabanks successful youth campaigns in the Caribbean are now being rolled out further across Central and Latin America, with the Scotiabank Be programme at the forefront of the Canadian banks plans Dan Jones spoke to key figures in Scotiabanks international retail banking division about the initiatives.With over 2,000 branches in 50 countries outside of Canada, Scotiabank, Canadas third-largest bank by assets, has a more extensive international retail banking network than its peers and is continuing to expand, with its June 2008 acquisition of Perus Banco del Trabajo making it that countrys leading consumer finance lender The international network spans regions as diverse as Latin America, Central America and Asia, and it is a diversity which extends to a granular level: the Caribbean alone is comprised of some 7,000 islands and 15 countries in which Scotiabank has a presence.
Postbank lets customers determine card limits
Deutsche Postbank, Germanys largest non-state-owned retail bank, has begun offering customers the option to determine card limits for withdrawals at ATMs abroad individually. The banks website allows customers to view and change the weekly limit for withdrawals abroad for all Postbank cards in the security menu section
Record H1 earnings from Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered has hailed another record performance, reporting revenue up 14 percent for the first half of 2009 to $7.96 billion and operating profit before tax of 10 percent to $2.84 billion The performance was driven by strong momentum in its wholesale banking unit, which posted income rising 37 percent. In contrast, compared to the first half of 2008, Standard Chartereds consumer banking division saw income decline 15 percent to $2.69 billion while operating profit fell 57 percent to $348 million
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Mixed fortunes for Japanese banks
A mixed set of first-quarter results at Japans leading banks has done little to clarify whether the countrys financial services industry has yet pulled itself out of the economic maelstrom Though both Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui returned to the black, reporting net income for the three months to 30 June of 75.9 billion ($792 million) and 72.8 billion respectively, rival Mizuho slid to a net loss of 4.5 billion. At MUFG, consumer deposits rose on the quarter from 62.9 trillion to 63.6 trillion, but the banks ambitions to bolster its mortgage lending business took a blow as housing loans dipped from 19.5 trillion to 19.4 trillion.
Chase offers mortgage rebates to customers
JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by market capitalisation, has introduced an innovative mortgage cash-back programme offering customers the chance to recoup a portion of their annual home loan payments either in the form of a cash rebate or a reduction on loan payments. The programme, which applies to customers with a Chase mortgage who arrange for monthly payments to be deducted from their Chase current account, will return 1 percent of customers scheduled monthly principal and interest mortgage payments. The offer will be rolled out under the Chase Exclusives brand, which also offers eligible customers a series of rewards programmes and other loan discounts
M-banking becomes cool
Apples iPhone, along with a host of new-breed smartphones, is revolutionising mobile commerce, including m-banking Now, many banks across the world are looking to the iPhone for a new way of providing innovative, relevant banking services to their mass market customer base Dan Jones reports.From an m-banking standpoint, the first half of 2009 was particularly notable for the way that a trickle of iPhone-ready mobile banking applications turned into something approaching a flood.
The tipping point may have arrived’
Dan Jones spoke to Sam Jackel, programme manager, direct channels speech programme, at NAB Personal Banking.National Australia Bank (NAB) has introduced speech recognition technology across its telephone banking channel a sign that the long-anticipated technology may be finally gaining traction at some of the worlds leading banks.
Getting clever with cards
TD Canada Trust and South Africas Old Mutual have become the latest members of the international financial services industry to introduce card-based, automatic savings and, now, investment programmes Dan Jones reports on one of the more innovative parts of the global retail banking market.Debit and credit card accounts which come with an automatic savings facility are on the rise, with new products from TD in Canada and Old Mutual in South Africa