All articles by RBI editorial
RBI editorial
The accelerating Indian market
India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, presents a wealth of opportunity for the prepaid and debit card market with only a predicted 10% of the population owning a card Should market watchers be impressed and excited by the opportunities presented by the low penetration of prepaid cards in India an estimated 3.5m to 4m cards in a country with a population of 1.2bn and a median age of 26 or should they be wary?
EPC has mobile payments in its sights
The European Payments Council (EPC), the co-ordination and decision-making body of the European payments industry, has published its 2009 annual report, which highlights the “substantial progress” achieved in delivering several initiatives for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Among the initiatives highlighted is the SEPA Cards Framework (SCF), which has been designed to enhance levels of inter-operability within SEPA by defining common standards in order to improve transparency and remove barriers to the development of a SEPA for cards.
Profits at ICBC push retail up
International and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the worlds biggest bank by market capitalisation, posted a 16% rise in net profits to CNY128.6bn ($18.8bn) for fiscal 2009, bolstered by a jump in its retail arm. ICBC, with a network of more than 16,000 branches across China, saw its personal deposits rise 48% to CNY4.66 trillion at the end of 2009, from CNY4.01 trillion the year before.
ABN restructuring underway as lender posts ?117m loss
Free) ABN AMRO, the Dutch-based nationalised lender, recorded a 117m ($156m) loss at its core operations for fiscal 2009, after higher loan provisions and pressure on interest margins. The bank also forecast another deficit for 2010 as it completes a three-year restructuring which will see it merge with Fortis Bank Netherlands (to be branded together as ABN AMRO) by 2012. The restructuring meets conditions set by the European Commission (EC) to separate businesses owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and sell a stake in its commercial client activities to Deutsche Bank.
Coventry, Stroud & Swindon merge
The UKs third-largest building society, Coventry Building Society, is to merge with its smaller rival Stroud & Swindon, signalling further consolidation in the mutual sector.
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Yes Bank targets larger retail market share
Indian private sector lender Yes Bank has announced plans to broaden its retail banking product and service offerings to grab a larger share of the retail market. Targets to set up an extensive ATM network 1,200 ATMs by March 2012 and 3,000 ATMs by March 2015 are already underway following its memorandum of understanding with merchant processor First Data for an “innovative ATM deployment programme” (see RBI 616).
Virgin Money sells 21% stake to US billionaire
US businessman Wilbur Ross has acquired a 21% in Richard Bransons Virgin Money for £100m ($152m) boosting the banks chances of becoming a full-service retail bank. The move comes as Virgin Money is one of five bidders for 318 branches from beleaguered UK counterpart Royal Bank of Scotland, although Santander is reportedly expected to win the deal. It also comes after Virgins recent acquisition of Church House Trust, which provided the banking license for the bank to develop its retail banking business in the UK.
VTB posts 2009 loss, but retail strong
Russian banking group VTB made a net loss of RUB59.6bn ($2bn) in fiscal 2009, due to “inevitably rising impairments”, which stood at RUB154.7bn, the bank said in a statement. The banks share of retail lending in Russia rose to 10.2% in 2009, from 8.8% in 2008, with its retail lending portfolio increasing by 12.5% to RUB435.3bn, “clearly outperforming the market”, the bank said.
Bank of America completes ‘talking ATM’ roll-out
Bank of America (BofA) has completed the installation of voice-enabled technology across its entire ATM network offering access to visually impaired customers, Americas largest bank by deposits has announced.
Skipton Building Society merges with Chesham
Skipton Building Society, the UKs fourth-largest building society, is to merge with Chesham Building Society to create a mutual with over £15bn ($22.8bn) of assets and a network of 92 branches.