All articles by Farah Halime
Farah Halime
Barclays to invest £1bn in retail banking
Barclays will pump £1bn ($1.5bn) in its retail banking division over the next four years in an effort to re-focus attention on retail and away from its investment banking unit The bank, the UKs second largest bank by assets, is also expecting strong profit growth and is targeting a return on equity of 13-15% between 2010 and 2013, according to the banks head of global retail banking Antony Jenkins
Wells Fargo launches extra apps for Android, Blackberry and Palm
Wells Fargo has extended its mobile banking to the Android, Blackberry and Palm smartphone handsets, a year after launching the service for Apples iPhone The banks mobile banking, or m-banking service, allows customers access to current account balances, transaction history and credit card payment information as well as the ability to transfer funds and pay bills
HSBC buys RBS’s Indian retail and commercial division
HSBC has agreed to acquire Royal Bank of Scotlands (RBS) Indian retail and commercial division to boost its presence in the worlds second fastest growing economy
PFM pioneer Wesabe to shut down
In a note to customers, the firms chief executive Marc Hedlund, said the 5-year old business will be shut down as of 31 July, after months of operating on a shoestring budget Hedlund said that, while the companys website has remained online and received positive feedback from users, Wesabe has been unable to provide the support people need have required for something so central as financial management
Wincor Nixdorf extends German savings bank contract
Sparkasse Harburg-Buxtehude, one Germanys 431 savings banks, has signed an agreement with self-service vendor Wincor Nixdorf to take over the cash management of its ATM service for the next five years Wincor first took over the operation of Sparkasses services in April 2008, but in the second phase of the firms agreement, the technology vendor will manage the cash services of the banks 271 self-service systems.
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Garanti confident of NFC market slice
Turkeys card market is already one of the most advanced in Europe, but Garanti has gone one step further with the worlds first near field communication-enabled SIM card for mobile contactless payments Garanti, Turkeys largest bank by assets, has signed an agreement with the countrys third-largest mobile phone operator Avea offering SIM cards enabled with near field communication (NFC) capability.
Retail at heart of VTB 3-year plan
VTB, Russias second-largest lender, has unveiled an ambitious 3-year strategy to double its annual profits and boost its retail banking presence Herbert Moos, chief financial officer of the bank, said the move is in line with a significant growth in the banks market capitalisation
Lloyds TSB to ‘significantly’ reduce overdraft fees
Lloyds TSB, the subsidiary of the UKs largest retail bank Lloyds Banking Group, is revising its overdraft fee structure for all of its existing and new personal current account customers from 2 December. Among the changes in force is a new fee-free and interest-free buffer zone of £10 ($15) for both planned and unplanned overdrafts, a £5 monthly usage fee for using an overdraft down from £15, and the right to use the banks mobile banking service free of charge.
Bank turns to ‘guerrilla marketing’
San Francisco-headquartered Bank of the West has doubled its investment in promoting customer satisfaction in an effort to benefit from consumers lack of trust in its larger, bailed-out rivals Chief marketing officer Andrew Rosen tells Farah Halime about the banks renewed push to attract customers. Bank of the West, the US-based retail subsidiary of BNP Paribas, has revealed it will spend $1m, up from $500,000 last year, marketing its latest award for receiving the highest customer satisfaction in California.
Core banking market to rise to $4bn
Research consultancy Celent says the core banking market which provides a range of IT solutions is turning interesting as top-tier banks shake off budget restraints, vendors upgrade products and services, and smaller banks in developing regions attempt to meet increasing customer demands.