All articles by Farah Halime
Farah Halime
ANZ acquisition of RBS divisions adds $6.5bn deposits
ANZ, Australias third largest bank by assets, has completed its acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotlands (RBS) retail and commercial businesses in Asia-Pacific, adding 1.6 million new customers, $6.5bn of customer deposits and 49 branches to its portfolio
Unbanked still struggling to access finance, says Barclays
Three quarters of the world still do not have access to basic financial services such as current accounts, despite considerable investments to reverse the effects of financial exclusion, according to Barclays. The Banking for Billions report, published by Barclays and the Economist Intelligence Unit, said there was still a long way to go to close the gap on 74% of the worlds population who have no access to bank accounts and loans
Dubai Islamic Bank launches mobile banking
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has become the latest bank to tap into the popularity of mobile banking with the launch of the Al Islami m-banking service DIB customers can now conduct all their daily banking needs without worrying about branch opening hours or carrying a laptop with them, said Musabbah Al Qaizi, head of electronic banking at the bank
Caja Madrid, Bancaja to form sector leader
Caja Madrid and Bancaja have entered into merger talks that could create Spains biggest savings bank as consolidation in the sector speeds up ahead of a 30 June government deadline The banks are also in discussions to merge operations with five smaller savings banks: Caja Insular de Canarias, Caixa Laietana, Caja Segovia, Caja Rioja and Caja Avila, creating a merged entity with $340bn ($411.8bn) in total assets. According to a statement from the banks, if the agreement is approved, the new entity will form the first savings bank in the country, strengthen solvency ratios and liquidity levels, boost efficiency and improve service to its customer base
Barclaycard eyes outsourcing with Firstsource
Barclaycard, the credit card division of the UKs third largest bank Barclays, has entered into talks with Firstsource to take over its customer service centre The details of the partnership with the Indian provider of outsourcing services centre on the banks ongoing drive to boost efficiency and service to customers
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Citi rolls out MasterCard contactless stickers
Citi is now offering its customers a MasterCard PayPass-enabled sticker that can be placed on the back of mobile phones The bank has quietly rolled out the Citi payment tag, available by request via the website under the tag-line: The back of your phone just became its coolest feature The Citi payment tags, supplied by Oberthur Technologies, enable customers to make payments of up to $50 at the point of sale at MasterCard PayPass readers
Santander buys back stake from Bank of America
Santander has bought back the 24.9% stake that it does not already own in its Mexican unit, Banco Santander Mexico from Bank of America, reinforcing its expansion ambitions The bank added that the acquisition has a high growth potential due to the low level of use of banking services in the country and will raise the group profit by 2 percentage points to 7%, according to the bank
Chase reopens Facebook philanthropy campaign
Chase, the retail unit of JPMorgan Chase, has kicked off its charitable giving initiative on Facebook for the second year running, extending the success of the social media-based programme Community Giving will award more than $5 million to be shared among 200 charities, doubling the number of charities that took part in the first year (see RBI 626), with grants ranging from $20,000 to $250,000 Garnering support from more than 2 million users since it first launched in November 2009, president of the JPMorgan Chase foundation Kimberly Davis said the campaign offered a new paradigm for corporate giving.
BCR boosts security of ATMs to avoid fraud
Romanias Banca Comercial Romn (BCR), part of the Erste group, is updating its ATM network to speed up transactions and boost security for customers The improvements to the ATM network, the biggest in the country at over 2,000 terminals, come as the bank makes a transition to EMV technology allowing for chip-based payments The main updates to the ATMs network include a display on avoiding fraud on all ATMs, a PIN code request for each type of operation performed at an ATM and an increase in the minimum withdrawal amount to RON50 ($14) from RON10
NAB reasserts UK position
National Australia Bank (NAB), owner of the UKs Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, has distanced itself from rumours that it is planning to exit the UK retail banking market. Last week, the bank pulled out of the bid for Royal Bank of Scotlands 318 branches, leaving Spains Santander, the clear frontrunner for the branches valued at £2bn ($2.8bn)