All articles by Meghna Mukerjee
Meghna Mukerjee
CBA completes treasure-hunt style contest on Facebook
Commonwealth Bank in Australia (CBA) has completed a Facebook campaign through which the lender enabled participants to get involved in treasure-hunt-style quest, online and offline, to collect information about CBA. CBA launched a Time Vault on its Facebook page and the tab had trivia questions related to CBAs 100-year history. The Time Vault, set up as a Facebook app, housed within a tab on CBAs main corporate page. Each correct answer was put into a draw, giving particpinats the chance to win a A$2,000 ($2,050.86) cash prize.
International Bank of Azerbaijan to increase retail focus
Baku-headquartered International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) plans to increase its focus on retail banking and extend the retail products, in order to involve cash from local market. The chairman of the IBA board of directors, Jahangir Hajiyev, said, We have great prospects and plans on retail services development, introduction of new bank services. According to Hajiyev, some of the products have already been launched such as gold deposit, that allows customers to place a deposit in gold without the physical obtainment of gold. Other retail products will be issued as soon as they are ready with the aim of raising the populations funds.
UkrSibbank denies plans to withdraw from retail banking in Ukraine
UkrSibbank, a unit of BNP Paribas, has confirmed that it has no plans at all to withdraw from its retail banking activity in Ukraine, contrary to press reports. UkrSibbank has said in a statement that it has no intention of changing its strategy, which continues to be based on developing bank services to individual customers, with a special focus on deposits and consumer loans. For corporate clients, UkrSibbanks strategy focuses on internationally active companies. UkrSibbank has mentioned in the statement that it has active support of its shareholders.
Huawei launches virtual teller machine in Malaysia
Information and communications technology company Huawei has launched eSpace virtual teller machine (VTM) in Malaysia. Huawei aims to transform the overall consumer banking experience in Malaysia with the eSpace VTM. The eSpace VTM aims to integrate multiple service channels within banks – such as telephone banking, Internet banking, bank offices and ATMs into a new service model. The self-service kiosk that is designed to allow consumers to carry out their banking transactions in a safe and comfortable environment.
Barclays offers £100k through The Stake
A total of £100,000 ($158,000) is up for grabs and up to six young individuals can lay claims to the money through The Stake. Barclays is investing the prize money for winners of The Stake an online competition that will roll out in a TV show format in association with Channel 4, as part of the initiative to infuse good money skills among the youth segment. This is the first time Barclays has partnered with a major TV organisation and made what it calls a big foray into an online competition for young people. Barclays believes it is going to inspire young people to build their business and their enterprise skills and build their money along the way, says the head of consumers and community affairs for Barclays, Michelle Smith.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Sainsbury’s Finance taps Teradata to boost customer loyalty
Sainsburys Finance, the banking arm of theUK-headquartered retailer, has deployed Teradatasoftware to bring all its data onto a single platform and build a virtual customer-loyalty loop. The Teradata solution aims to avoid duplication of data and provide analytical solutions for Sainsburys. We needed a provider that could bring all of our data sources together, a company that would be able to build a solution from scratchand future-proof it, Sainsburys Finance headof customer insights Simon Axon told RBI.
HDFC Bank launches cards targeting women
HDFC Bank, Indias second-largest private sector bank by market value after ICICI, has launched two premium cards targeting Indian women Solitaire Premium and Solitaire. HDFC Solitaire Premium is the first premium womens card in the country. An all-women team from the HDFC has developed the Solitaire cards to make them what todays successful women want according to a statement issued by HDFC. A portion of all spends on Solitaire and Solitaire Premium credit card will be contributed to the non-profit organisation SOS Childrens Villages, India, towards the annual education expenses of 60 girl children.
Banking the unbanked goes mobile
Mobile banking is being embraced the world over at a rapid pace. With more customers being exposed tonew banking apps and the Smartphone craze, m-banking or banking on the go arguably, could become the most important transactional banking channel. In developing economies, m-banking is also being used to boost financial inclusion. Across Africa, Bangladesh and parts of India, mobilephones are cheap and ownership is high. There are more than twice as many people in the world with mobile phones than hold bankaccounts. Mobile phones have the potential toplay a major role in bringing financial services to the worlds unbanked population.
first direct tops JD Power UK Retail Banking Satisfaction Study
first direct has topped the 2011 UK Retail Banking Satisfaction Study by marketing consultancy JD Power. first direct has come up on top with a score of 774, followed by The Co-operative Bank with a score of 734. Nationwide Building Society ranks third with a 723 score. Head of customer services at first direct, Jason Sharpe, said that the lenders performance has been consistent over the years. We are one of the top 100 core brands in the UK and for a bank to be a core brand I think it is brilliant, and bizarre as well especially in this sort of climate, said Sharpe.
Russian Standard Bank to revamp mobile banking platform
Moscow-headquartered Russian Standard Bank (RSB) is preparing to revamp its mobile banking platform to make it more functional. RSB has a mobile application, Mobile Bank, and the new version will aim to give RSB cardholders flexibly to manage accounts and cards at any convenient place, the director of acquiring department at RSB, Ivan Glazachev, told RBI. The revamped mobile banking platform will also allow customers to get exclusive offers from our partners, based on customer location coordinates, said Glazachev. Glazachev added that mobile banking and mobile technologies have huge potential in the Russian market.