All articles by Meghna Mukerjee
Meghna Mukerjee
Fibank launches e-loyalty scheme YES programme
Bulgarian lender Fibank has launched an e-loyalty scheme, YES programme, for its credit card customers. YES programme uses France-based vendor Welcome Real-times loyalty capabilities through the Welcome XLS software, and makes Fibank the first Bulgarian bank to offer a credit card with contactless and real-time loyalty features. Through the YES programme, Fibank has partnered with a wide network of merchants across Bulgaria.
Lloyds TSB m-banking apps downloaded 360,000 times in first month
Lloyds TSB’s new m-banking apps have reportedly been downloaded more than 360,000 times in the first month of its launch. Lloyds TSB rolled out its first, free, mobile apps on the four Smartphone platforms Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Nokia on 10 October. The m-banking apps enable Lloyds TSB customers to view account details and balances on personal and savings accounts as well as credit cards. Customers are also able to view mini-statements, make transfers between Lloyds TSB personal accounts, pay bills, set up new payment recipients, and find ATMs and branches.
Indian Finance Ministry asks banks to target under-banked districts
The Finance Ministry of India has asked all banks, including private sector lenders, to open branches in locations with population of more than 5,000 in the under-banked districts by September, 2012. The Reserve Bank of India has identified 296 districts, which are under-banked, spread across 18 states and union territories across India. The Indian Finance Ministry has said, in its recent guideline on financial inclusion, that such branches could initially have lesser staff, with ATM facilities. The staff strength could be increased depending on the growth of the business, the Finance Ministry has said.
RBS, NatWest and HSBC customers face weekend banking woes
Customers of The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest were locked out of their online accounts this weekend due to maintenance work which went wrong.The online service disruptions affected approximately 15m customers. Some RBS and NatWest customers did not have their account balances updated overnight, nor were their accounts credited with receipts. The technical disruptions also affected some RBS and NatWest customers who were not been able to make withdrawals from cash machines as funds had not cleared.
ABSA launches remote account opening application
Barclays South African subsidiary, ABSA, has launched a remote account opening application for Android-based Smartphone and tablet devices that claims to enable customers to open a bank account in less than 10 minutes. The on-device application scans a customers ID book to identify and verify the customers details and relevant information. The remote account opening application will also show GPS co-ordinates of where images were taken, which will allow the bank to further compile customer and sales data, ABSA has announced.
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ING Netherlands to cut 2700 retail banking jobs
ING in the Netherlands plans to cut 2,700 jobs in retail banking, as part of its cost cutting measures. ING said it will cut 2,700 positions, including 700 contract workers, at its retail banking division in the Netherlands over the next two years. The cuts, announced in the banks 3Q results, will be made in an attempt to save 300m ($412m) annually for ING from 2014 onwards. The bank has said it does not intend to make any redundancies on the client facing side of its retail banking operations.
Selftrade becomes a broker-bank
Selftrade, a UK based execution-only stock broker the trading name of Talos Securities, has become a bank with deposit taking permissions granted by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This is the first step by Seltrade towards offering banking and savings products and services. Seltrade is the UK subsidiary of Boursorama and part of the Socite Generale (SocGen). Selftrade is making the move towards introducing retail banking products to its customers as its parent company Boursorama has done.
Consumers more reluctant to use credit, FICO and Efma report reveals
Consumers are more reluctant to use credit and instead are trying to save more, the results of the third European credit risk outlook report by FICO and the European Financial Marketing Association (Efma) has revealed. The report, that provides an overview of the European credit market and represents feedback from more than 70 risk managers from banks across 26 countries, presents a gloomy picture of credit performance, reversing the positive trend that was displayed in the previous survey (June 2011).
Nationwide launches first product placement partnership on ITV soap Coronation Street
Nationwide, UKs largest building society by assets, has tied up with ITV for its first paid-for-placement of a product in one of UKs most popular and longest running soap operas, Coronation Street. A Nationwide ATM has been placed inside one of the lead characters, Dev Alahans corner shop, replacing an unbranded prop cash machine, and a Nationwide branded sign board has also been placed outside the shop. This is the first product placement initiative for both Nationwide and Coronation Street. The deal is reported to be for an initial period of four months. The Nationwide ATM and Nationwide sign board will appear in episodes airing from the week commencing 14th November.
Coutts rebrands and drops RBS name
Coutts is dropping the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) name with an aim to revitalise its brand and bring consistency to its international client base. The Swiss-based international bank has operated as RBS Coutts outside the UK since 2008. The rebranding, effective from 1st November, is being carried out with the objective of aligning its international as well as UK businesses under a single brand.