All articles by Meghna Mukerjee
Meghna Mukerjee
Customer service and cross selling key drivers for mobile banking
Improving customer service and increasing banks cross sell ratio are two key drivers for growth in the future of mobile banking, according to results of a survey conducted by technology vendor Infosys in association with Retail Banker Interactive. The online survey about the future of mobile banking revealed that most consumers (67.1%) feel the potential value of mobile banking lies in the improvement of customer service. More than half of the respondents (53.4%) said reaching younger customers holds potential value for mobile banking.
Benchmarking customer expectation
Research firm Celent has developed a Bank Readiness Index (BRI) on behalf of US-based IT solutions company SunGard that is an online tool aiming to enable banks benchmark their ability to cater to customer expectations. The index aggregates banks capabilities across several dimensions among banks in each region and normalises those capabilities based on measured consumer preferences and behaviour, such as social media usage and smartphone ownership. Celent calculated the Bank Readiness Index based on a weighting of 17 variables across four areas multichannel, mobility, social media and customer metrics.
Lloyds and Co-op seal the deal on Project Verde
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to the terms of sale of its 623 branches also known as Project Verde to The Co-operative Bank (Co-op), UK. The Verde business has 632 branches across the UK, representing 6% of the UK branch network, with approximately 5m customers. With the combination of the Co-op business, it will amount to approximately 7% of UK current accounts. According to Lloyds, the proposed transaction of the 623 branches would be based upon a revised smaller business perimeter, which has no funding gap in terms of assets and liabilities, and is likely, in terms of scale, to have equity capital of £1.5bn supporting it.
Tsesnabank deploys SmartGuard solution for fraud monitoring
Kazakhstan-based Tsesnabank has implemented BPC Banking Technologies fraud monitoring and prevention solution, SmartGuard. According to Tsesnabank, the solution monitors 100% of authorisation traffic across all channels to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, stopping fraud before it happens. SmartGuard, reportedly, provides flexible setting and modification of rules to optimise fraud prevention and stay ahead of criminal activity.
Ecobank Nigeria launches Ecobank Mobile Money
Ecobank Nigeria has launched a new product, Ecobank Mobile Money, with the aim of promoting Nigerias cash-less policy and strengthening financial inclusion, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country. Ecobanks managing director, Jibril Aku, said that Ecobank Mobile Money would reduce cash dependency level in day to day transactions for customers in Nigeria as they will be allowed to use their cell phones to conduct basic financial transactions even if they dont have a bank account irrespective of the location. All Ecobank branches have, reportedly, been set up to receive, register and unregister customers of Ecobank Mobile Money who want to carry out transactions using their mobile phones.
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BofA most talked about bank online: Social Media Explorer report
Bank of America (BofA) is the most talked about lender among customers in the US who discuss their banks online, according to the Conversation Report: What Consumers Are Saying About Banking. The Conversation Report which aims to enable banks to better monitor and respond to what customers are saying online was published by US-based social media marketing agency Social Media Explorer. The results of the Conversation Report report that primarily evaluated conversations around the top 25 US banks reveal that BofA had the biggest chunk of online customer conversations, at nearly 25%.
ASB to launch payments service through Facebook
New Zealand-based Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) has revamped its mobile banking app and added a new service that will enable customers to make payments directly through Facebook to friends, regardless of whether they are an ASB customer or not, without using a bank account number. The new service can be used mid-July onwards. According to ASB, the ability to pay and receive money via Facebook is a breakthrough for the New Zealand market.
A Global Blueprint for Success
Recession is often one of the chief catalysts for innovation. Often the companies in the best shape following a downturn are the ones that resisted the temptation to axe spending. While cost reductions and efficiencies can and should be made, investment and innovation must not stop, writes Carol Cowan, vice president, Fiserv. We are in the midst of an economic, regulatory, technological and social transformation across the globe. These dynamic trends signal a bright future for financial service providers that can adapt and begin to think differently. The consumerisation of IT and the digital revolution enabled by anywhere, anytime connectivity have opened the door to a new way of experiencing the world – and banking is no exception. Technology plays a key role in delivering financial services and creating the positive customer experiences needed to build consumer loyalty and trust.
Fio banka partners First Data for portfolio of processing services
Electronic commerce and payment processing vendor First Data will supply a complete portfolio of processing services including card issuing, personalisation, authorisation, processing and fraud monitoring to new Czech Republic-based lender, Fio banka. Fio banka, a subsidiary of the Fio Financial Group that was launched in 2010, also aims to work together with First Data to develop a wide range of innovative solutions for the Czech market, such as issuing contactless-enabled payment cards and enabling cardholders to carry out PIN changes using the banks internet banking platform.
Absa launches new online banking platform using Backbase technology
Barclays South Africa-based subsidiary, Absa, has launched a new online banking platform based on IT vendor Backbases Bank 2.0 Portal technology that will offer Absa customers a unified dashboard to combine all their financial data. According to the lender the new online banking platform will offer consumers a completely new user experience for digital banking. Head of Absa digital banking, Christo Vrey, said that unlike traditional internet banking, Absa Online is no longer about just transactional requirements, but gives Absa customers easy access to all products and services within the group.