All articles by Hugh Fasken
Hugh Fasken
Nokia makes its move with Money
Finlands Nokia, the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile phones, is launching an ambitious mobile phone-based payments service in 2010 with the aim of bringing the worlds unbanked into mainstream financial services. Nokia Money, being run in conjunction with US m-payments and person-to-person technology specialist Obopay, will let people send money to each other mobile-to-mobile as well as pay merchants for goods and services, pay utility bills and recharge prepaid SIM cards.
Singapore’s DBS launches 3-in-1 card
DBS, Singapores largest bank by assets, has launched what it says is the first credit card in Singapore to offer a combination of regular payment services and contactless payments for both retail services and local public transport systems. The Live Fresh Visa payWave Platinum card, which combines Visa payment, Visa payWave and EZ-Link services, will also allow customers the chance to pledge discounts earned at dining establishments to a designated childrens charity
BBVA eyes youth market with soccer card collection
Spains BBVA has re-launched its annual tie-up with entertainment company Panini as it looks to leverage its inaugural season as sponsor of La Liga, Spains top-flight football league. The two firms will once again target Spains youth segment via a co-branded effort with Colecciones Este, the Panini subsidiary which has sold soccer card collections in Spain since 1972. BBVA, which previously sponsored the second-tier Spanish league, is offering 300 soccer cards to children who open a Miniblue account and deposit 200 ($285) into such accounts.
DoCoMo’s ‘mobile’ credit card hits 10m
DCMX allows subscribers to make contactless purchases using their mobile phones via iD, DoCoMos branded mobile payment platform for handsets equipped with contactless IC cards DoCoMo, which boasts 55 million customers in total and helped kick start the global mobile economy with the development of i-mode technology 10 years ago, argues the success of the product can be boiled down to ease-of-use, a comprehensive loyalty programme driven by reward points, and the distribution of 420,000 iD readerswriters across Japan.
Citi launches m-banking in Singapore
Citibank Singapore has launched a comprehensive mobile banking service that provides customers with transactional banking services and real-time information on their mobile phones. Citibank customers will be able to bank via two key platforms Citi Mobile and Citi Alerts
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Barclays in talks over £70m UK soccer sponsorship deal
Barclays is in talks with English soccer officials over a new three-year deal to sponsor Englands top flight Premier League competition, according to a company spokesperson. The banks credit card subsidiary, Barclaycard, was the title sponsor between 2001-2004, giving the group a near 10-year branding deal with the worlds most watched football league. In 2007 Barclays renewed a three-year league sponsorship deal, initially signed in 2004, for £65.8 million ($108 million) for the period to 2010
New campaign from Amex emphasises benefits of charge cards
American Express, which has suffered from surprising rises in delinquent credit among its affluent card base over the past 12 months, has rolled out one of its biggest ad campaigns to date under the new theme, Dont Take Chances, Take Charge The aim of the initiative is to espouse the benefits of charge cards over credit and debit cards as a better financial planning tool. The launch of the campaign coincides with the news that, for the third year in a row, American Express has been ranked highest in customer satisfaction among credit card companies by the JD Power and Associates 2009 Credit Card Satisfaction Study.
Emirates NBD’s H1 net profit down 20%
The largest bank in the Middle East has announced net profit for the first half period of AED2.1 billion ($570.7 million), a fall of 20 percent year-on-year Operating profit at Dubai-based Emirates NBD before impairment allowances was up 26 percent to AED3.7 billion. Customer loans grew 4 percent to AED216.6 billion, while customer deposits increased 5 percent to AED170.5 billion
M-banking brought to smartphones by Citibank
Citibank has become the latest US bank to offer banking on so-called smartphones (see RBI 616) Citi is expanding its mobile offering to most BlackBerry smartphones, Palm devices and Apples iPhone According to the bank, US consumers are switching to smartphones at a rapid pace, accounting for 22 percent of all devices acquired in the past six months, increasing market penetration in the US to 16 percent
ICBC rolls out 3G m-banking in China
The bank, which already boasts the worlds largest online customer base with a stated 62 million users as of the first quarter, says its new 3G platform is a first in the country, allowing it to not only offer basic services like account inquiries but functions such as payments and remittances, credit card repayments and even the purchase of gold.