All articles by Duygu Tavan
Duygu Tavan
Turkish banks rise to the challenge
Around a year ago, RBI spoke to Hakan Binbasgil, deputy CEO and chief retail banking officer at Akbank, Turkeys third largest private-sector bank by assets, about the reasons for the banks success (see Akbank outlines reason for success). Since then, the Turkish banking sector has been shaken up with the central banks unorthodox macro-prudential actions to maintain the countrys financial stability while closing the current account deficit (see chart, right). The Turkish central bank has raised reserve capital requirements for banks (see chart, below), forcing banks to set aside more capital and issue fewer loans in order to restrict domestic credit demand.
Innovation, innovation, innovation
Akbanks Hakan Binbasgil, deputy CEO and chief retail banking officer, and Tunc Akyurt, executive vice-president strategy, CRM, channel & product development, tell Duygu Tavan why the rise in reserve capital requirements, historically low interest rates and cap on credit growth do not threaten Akbanks ambitions. The countrys banks admired for staying afloat during the financial storm are now caught in another whirlwind.
A branch of one’s own
Tsvetanka Mincheva, the deputy head of retail banking at Bulgarias largest lender, Bulbank, tells Duygu Tavan about the banks strategy that includes the launch of a women-only branch.
PNC takes over BankAtlantic branches in Tampa, US
Mid-Atlantic based PNC is to take over 19 branches of BankAtlantic Bancorp. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the first week of June 2011. PNC will be taking over BankAtlantic Bancorps branch network in Tampa – St
Bancorp Bank issues prepaid natural disaster prepaid card
Bancorp Bank’s payment solutions unit has rolled out a prepaid card, titled Declared Disaster Plan Claim Prepaid MasterCard, to give card holders immediate access and assistance when natural disasters occur. When natural disasters occur, the card holder will only need to contact ACE who will send a request to the bank to credit the card with a payment, thus reducing the time of receiving a fund substantially, The Bancorp Bank Payment Solutions Group said.
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Fiserv enhances Relationship Rewards banking platform
Fiserv said that the new version will enable banks that use the platform to choose how to reward customers. According to Fiserv, the platform enables banks to identify new revenue potential as the system enables banks to target particular customer segments, such as Generation Y and small businesses.
Some Commerzbank debit cards to stop working over Easter
A spokesperson for Commerzbank told RBI that a small number of card holders will not be able to withdraw cash from any ATMs in Germany, nor pay by card, because the bank is finalising the consolidation of the data systems of Dresdner Bank (which it acquired in 2008) with its own
US Bancorp retail net income down 24%
US Bancorps consumer and small business banking division posted a 24% slump in first quarter net income to $42m compared with the corresponding period a year ago. At group level, US Bancorp has reported first quarter net income of just over $1bn, an increase of 56.4% from the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Erdem Basci takes over as head of Turkish Central Bank
The new governor of the Turkish Central Bank has officially begun his post. Erdem Basci was previously deputy governor of the Turkish central bank for eight years and is taking over the post from Durmus Yilmaz, who served since 2006. In 2006, Basci fell short of becoming governor when the then-president, the secularist Ahmet Necdet Sezer, vetoed against his appointment because of Basci’s close ties to the more theocratic AK Party.
Capital One launches credit card rewards barometer
Capital One, one of the top ten US banks by assets, has launched a barometer to measure how much credit card holders use their rewards. The Capital One Rewards Barometer will be published quarterly and is a survey to asses customers credit card reward redemption In its first such survey, Capital One found that over a fifth of US credit card holder (22%) were satisfied with their rewards programme.