All articles by Rodrigo Amaral
Rodrigo Amaral
A marketing war for deposits
Spanish banks have avoided the worst of the credit crisis but are preparing for a domestic slowdown dragged down by a wilting property market The first sign of this new competitive landscape is a rigorous fight for deposits the second may be market consolidation, especially between mid-tier players Rodrigo Amaral reports.An all-out war for retail deposits has begun in earnest in Spain, a market that has so far avoided the worst of the global financial crisis but is experiencing the first pangs of a very nasty property market downturn
The emerging Americas
Colombias consumer banking market has had a robust first-half period, fuelled by growing demand for personal loans Bad debt levels are rising, however, and inflation is cutting into growth but the general feeling is that this emerging South American market still offers good opportunities, says Rodrigo Amaral.
Cross selling your way to the top
Rodrigo Amaral talks to Nelson Machado, head of retail banking at Portugals Millennium BCP Putting the difficulties of last year behind it, Machado says the bank is focusing on improved cross selling and strategic branch openings as ways to find growth in a stubbornly stagnant Portuguese consumer banking market.
Premium income for Spain’s banks
There have been 10 bancassurance-related deals between banks and insurance companies in Spain so far this year, with banks keen to sell stakes in insurance subsidiaries The latest deal, between Zurich Financial Services and mid-tier player Banco Sabadell, is also the biggest at 750 million
How to be the number one card issuer
It is hoping a string of innovative products will win it quick market share.State-owned Caixa Geral de Depsitos (CGD), Portugals largest retail banking group with 776 branches and a 33 percent retail banking market share, has launched a major credit card offensive through to the end of 2008 as it looks to use its market dominance to close out commercial rivals Millennium BCP and Banco BPI
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The home loans boom in Brazil
Rodrigo Amaral talks to Jos Pereira Gonalves, general superintendent of ABECIP, Brazils savings and loans association, about the strong prospects for future home loan growth. Brazils domestic mortgage market is booming, generating good opportunities for the countrys growing banking industry, according to the Associao Brasileira das Entidades de Crdito Imobilirio e Poupana (ABECIP), the Brazilian Association of Home Loans and Savings Banks
Europe’s hot spot
Crdit Agricoles purchase of an extra 15 percent in Spains Bankinter has sent market talk of further consolidation in the profitable Spanish mid-cap banking industry to an all-time high especially as this segment could suffer from an expected downturn in the Spanish property market Expectations of further merger and acquisition activity in the Spanish banking market are high following the acquisition of a 14.99 percent stake in Bankinter by Crdit Agricole
A healthy credit card from Spain’s Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo
It is the result of a partnership between USP Hospitales, a private hospital chain owned by UK private equity firm Cinven, and CAMGE Financiera, the company created by CAM and GE Consumer Finance to provide consumer credit, insurance and card services in Spain.The USP MasterCard card allows access, from anywhere in the world, to the medical data of cardholders who have had medical examinations at any of the 43 hospitals in the USP chain
Angola’s fast-growing retail banking industry
2007 has been the year of the emerging market. Pakistan, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, to name a few, are now very much on the retail banking radar as both domestic and foreign banking groups look to capitalise on positive economic and investment sentiment. Although many African states continue to remain just off the map, the banking market in Angola has been picking up speed as the country tries to make up for lost time following decades of civil war. The potential of the market has been underlined in the last two years, with bank deposits increasing 60 percent a year.
Turn of the Millennium
Turn of the Millennium Portugals largest private-sector banking group, Millennium BCP, has had a very turbulent year It dramatically failed to buy domestic rival BPI, has lost its high-profile CEO, its 2010 strategic plan is in doubt and it could now find itself the subject of a takeover