All articles by Farah Halime
Farah Halime
Barclays linked with major US retail buy
Barclays, the UKs second-largest banking group, has been linked with buying a large US retail bank to supplement its investment banking presence in the country The bank is reported to be looking at one of the bailed-out US banks as potential targets, including SunTrust, PNC Financial and US Bancorp, the parent company of US Bank, the sixth-largest bank in the US by assets.
Virgin to charge for current accounts
Virgin Money will become the first UK bank to launch a compulsory fee-based current account later this year, arguably bringing the end of free banking a step closer Every customer signing up for a Virgin Money current account, regardless of how much is deposited initially, will have to pay a monthly fee, according to Virgin spokesman Scott Mowbray.
CIBC to expand retail network over 18 months
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canadas fifth largest bank by assets, will open 20 branches over the next year and a half to grow its market share
Barclays increases contactless limit
Barclays has upped the maximum limit for its contactless card transactions in the UK from £10 ($14.96) to £15 to make paying for smaller transactions easier for its customers There are now more than 2 million contactless-enabled Barclays Visa debit cards and 4 million credit cards, since Barclaycard introduced the technology in 2007 The new higher limit gives customers the flexibility of paying for even more transactions quickly, securely and conveniently via a contactless card payment and will lead to more retailers implementing the technology, said Brian Cunnington, head of debit cards for Barclays
Kazkom targets deposit growth in 2010
While Kazakhstan has not escaped unscathed from the global economic crisis, the countrys biggest bank by assets, Kazkommertsbank, is upbeat about its prospects The banks managing director, Andrey Timchenko, tells Farah Halime an increased focus on boosting retail deposits will position the bank for further growth. Kazkommertsbank (KKB), the largest bank in Kazakhstan by assets, is aiming to overtake rival Halyk during 2010 to become the countrys biggest bank by retail deposits.
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HSBC advances on the mid-market
HSBC has begun one of the years biggest product roll-outs and bank marketing campaigns, HSBC Advance, to promote the launch of a new all-in-one account targeted at the mid-market segment As Farah Halime reports, HSBC is banking on the Advance product repeating the success of its successful Premier account. HSBC, the largest bank in Europe by market capitalisation, has launched HSBC Advance, an all-in-one packaged account targeted at current account customers in the mid-market segment across 39 countries worldwide.
CARD Act shifts power back to consumers, insists Obama
The US Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure (CARD) Act, one of the most significant pieces of card-related reform in recent years, came into effect on 22 February The CARD Act was signed into law by Obama in May 2009, and its main components include protecting credit cardholders from certain fee and rate increases.
Lloyds tops table for number of customer complaints
Lloyds TSB received the largest number of customer complaints in 2009, according to six-monthly data released by the UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Lloyds TSB received 9,952 complaints in the second half of 2009, continuing its position as most complained about bank from the first six months of the year, when it received 6,947 complaints.
TD Bank leads way with green strategy
Toronto-Dominion Bank has become the largest US-based bank to become carbon neutral with ambitious targets to boost energy efficiency, offset carbon use, launch green products and promote environmentally-friendly branches Toronto Dominions (TD) operations in Canada, the US and internationally are now carbon neutral and, according to the banks chief environmental officer Karen Clarke-Whistler, it is now the biggest north American-based bank to be able to make such a claim.
Santander eyes up 20% stake in Garanti
Santander has been linked with acquiring General Electrics (GE) 20.85 percent stake in Garanti, cashing in on Turkeys strong fiscal 2009 results and the countrys resilience to the financial crisis Garanti, Turkeys largest bank by market capitalisation, said GE was considering selling its $3.3 billion stake in the bank, paving the way for Santander to invest in Turkeys strong banking sector