All articles by Hugh Fasken
Hugh Fasken
China HNW population exceeds UK’s for first time
In a clear sign of the significant shift in the worlds wealth base and power, Chinas high net worth population surpassed that of the UKs in 2008 some 364,000 high net worth individuals in all to become the fourth largest in the world, after exceeding France in 2007. According to the 2009 World Wealth Report, just published by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and consultant Capgemini: In 2008, despite steep market capitalisation losses, the closed nature of Chinas markets combined with robust macroeconomic growth to help China avoid some of the steep losses felt elsewhere. The report added that Brazil surpassed Australia and Spain to reach 10th place among high net worth populations globally (at 131,000 individuals).
HSBC looks for big growth in China
HSBC, already the largest foreign banking group in mainland China with 83 branches, says it wants 100 outlets in the country by the start of next year as it looks to capitalise on its strong and historical local presence to take market share primarily in the mass affluent segment The group has received final approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to launch a jointly held life insurance company with Beijing-based National Trust Called HSBC Life Insurance Company Limited, the unit will also target mainly mass affluent customers via the large and established HSBC network in China (see table below).
A ‘traditional’ banking alternative
Overall, the bank posted a loss of £5.9 million, a 15 percent improvement on the £6.9 million loss recorded in 2007 Impairment charges in the unsecured consumer finance portfolio fell by 50 percent to £0.3 million, and the bank says there are currently no arrears within the secured finance portfolios. Steven Amos, head of marketing at the bank, says IBB has been better protected from the financial crisis because it was not impacted by the crisis root cause, toxic assets.
Fees hit US customer satisfaction
This years JD Power Satisfaction Index, one of the more keenly-watched rankings in US retail banking, has been published and despite an almighty amount of volatility in the US market over the past 12 months, JD Powers overall index of customer satisfaction has fallen by just 0.3 percent (from a score of 737 to 734, marked out of 1,000). Based on average scores across five separate categories convenience; fees; account statements; transactions; and account initiationproduct offerings some of the best performing banks overall included TD Bank (part of Canadas Toronto-Dominion Financial Group), Wells FargoWachovia, and BNP Paribass Californian subsidiary Bank of the West.
Banks upping Twitter presence
Twitter has quickly become a much-discussed player in the nascent Web 2.0 market A large number of banks in the US in particular have opened Twitter accounts with a view to better customer engagement, though Spanish banks are some of the keenest tweeters, according to a new report from VRL PublishingTwitter is a micro-blogging service launched in March 2006 It allows users to send messages (tweets) of up to 140 characters and follow the tweets of other users
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Turkish ATM growth leads Europe
The number of ATMs in Turkey grew by 20 percent in 2008, by far the largest growth in western Europe, according to the latest European ATM study from London-based group Retail Banking Research (RBR) Indeed, RBRs annual study, ATMs and Cash Dispensers Western Europe, found Turkey has been the fastest growing market for four consecutive years and, with 3,768 new ATMs, experienced its highest ever absolute growth in 2008. Turkeys strong performance follows an improved flow of foreign capital into the banking market which has resulted in increased competition
Deutsche Postbank returns to the black
Germanys largest retail bank, Deutsche Postbank (see country survey, RBI 609), has posted a first quarter net profit of 84 million ($114.2 million), albeit courtesy of a one-off tax credit: pre-tax the bank lost 91 million compared with a profit of 168 million in the year-ago period Postbanks retail banking unit flagged up a number of highlights for the quarter, despite reporting profit before tax 50 percent lower than Q108 Total retail savings soared by 5.3 billion to reach 52.7 billion, up 19 percent, giving it a market share of 9.5 percent
Decent start’ at MaxBips
MaxBips.com, the UK-based online marketplace launched with the aim of providing the best possible rate of return for affluent retail savers (see RBI 607), has conducted auctions worth a total of £100 million in its first three months of operation The service started on 2 February, offering depositors with at least £30,000 in savings the chance to run an auction in which banks and building societies compete to offer the best rate of interest on a no-obligation basis The final quote is displayed alongside more information about the winning banks credit rating and other financial information.
Charles Schwab bank assets up 68% y-o-y
Charles Schwab, the largest independent US discount brokerage house, has reported net income of $218 million for the first quarter of 2009, down 29 percent from the first quarter of 2008. At Charles Schwab Bank, the groups retail banking subsidiary, balance sheet assets were up 68 percent year-on-year to $28.4 billion Outstanding mortgage and home equity loans were up 56 percent to $6.1 billion.
Debit cards overtake credit cards in the US
Payments leader Visa has announced that spending on Visa-branded debit cards in the US has surpassed credit cards for the first time in the companys history For the period ending 31 December 2008, debit payments volume was $206 billion, compared with credit payments volume of $203 billion Debit transactions were nearly 70 percent of US transactions for the same time period, representing an increasingly larger portion of Visas US transactions