All articles by Farah Halime
Farah Halime
Bank of America to drop overdraft fees
Bank of America (BofA), Americas largest bank by deposits, will scrap overdraft charges on debit card purchases from the third quarter, ahead of the Federal Reserves new rules that prevent banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft programmes.
UK banks fail ‘financial well-being’ test
Barclays and NatWest are the only major UK banks offering products that significantly improve customers financial well-being, according to a report from UK charity FairBanking Barclaycards Flexi-Rate card, savings accounts from NatWest, Saffron Building Society (SBS) and O2s Cash Manager are the only UK banking products to contain features that can significantly improve customers financial well-being, according to a rating system launched by UK charity FairBanking.
Westpac to expand presence in London
Australias Westpac, the countrys largest banking group by branches, will reopen a retail branch in London by the end of 2011 to tap into the expatriate banking segment. A spokeswoman for the bank told RBI that a branch opened in the city on 15 March, focusing on helping expat customers from Australia and New Zealand manage their finances.
M-banking set to become fifth channel
Mobile banking in the US is approaching the end of the large bank installation expansion phase, with the majority of the countrys top 50 banks offering the service The top 50 financial institutions in the US will have to adopt increasingly innovative methods of mobile banking to attract customers and snap out of the plateau the channel growth has reached, according to a report, Are Banks from Mars, Mobile Banking vendors from Venus?, from Celent, the research and advisory firm.
Céska Sporitelna targets contactless
Cska Sporitelna, the Czech Republic-based subsidiary of Erste, has launched a self-service terminal for cashless payments. The device can scan a money order or a payment order form and read information directly from a bar code on a document. The terminals have been installed at a number of branches as part of a pilot to allow customers to process payment orders.
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Young consumers will transform retail banking, says Cisco
The rise of younger consumers reliance on mobile devices, video and social networking will transform the retail banking sector, according to a report by Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Ciscos global consultancy. Retail banks that have previously struggled to target segments beyond high net worth individuals could boost their revenues by 5% to 10% if they target so-called Generation Y (Gen Y) consumers, the report argues.
UniCredit net profits drop 58%, but beat analysts’ forecasts
UniCredit, Italys largest bank by market capitalisation, posted a net profit of 1.7bn ($2.3bn) for fiscal 2009, a slump of 58% on the year before, but ahead of analysts forecasts. The group, which has operations in 22 countries across Europe, also recorded a dip in retail profits, with pre-tax profit falling 68.8% to 945m in 2009 compared to the year before (3.02bn). The chief executive of the Milan-based bank, Alessandro Profumo, said a stronger capital 1 ratio and growing customer demand would position the bank in a very strong position to capture market share as soon as lending activity picks up
Emporiki re-brand to boost profitability
Greeces fifth largest bank by assets said the re-branding is in line with parent group Crdit Agricoles brand and is reflected in an updated corporate identity and signage of its branches, all promoted through a new advertising campaign called Kalimera.
Santander not interested in GE’s Garanti stake
Santander, the eurozones largest bank, has quelled rumours that it is interested in the sale of General Electrics (GE) stake in Garanti Bank A spokesman from the Spanish bank told RBI the bank is not involved in the process, ending speculation that it is planning to invest in Turkey. GE has said it is considering strategic options for selling a 20.85% stake in Garanti, Turkeys largest bank by market capitalisation (see RBI 627).
Metro Bank gets official banking licence
Metro Bank has been given the go-ahead to enter the UK retail banking market after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) officially approved its application for a banking licence. The move paves the way for Metro to open its first two branches in London by April and offer what it terms superior service and convenience to retail customers (see RBI 603)