All articles by Dan Jones
Dan Jones
ING slams brakes on F1 deal with Renault
ING, which said in February it would not renew its three-year partnership with the Renault Formula 1 (F1) team, has ended the sponsorship four races before the end of the F1 season in light of Renault admitting it had cheated its way to victory at the 2008 Singapore grand prix. In a separate announcement, Spanish insurer Mutua Madrilena said it would also end its backing of Renault, citing the breach of F1 rules by the French manufacturer, but said it would continue to back Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, widely expected to switch to Ferrari next season (see RBI 618)
Barclays signs European bancassurance deal with France’s CNP
The UKs second-largest banking group, Barclays, has agreed a long-term life insurance joint venture in Spain, Portugal and Italy with France-headquartered CNP Assurance. The deal follows the banks sale of a 50 percent stake in its Vida y Pensiones Compaa de Seguros insurance unit to CNP. Frits Seegers, chief executive of Barclays global retail and commercial banking unit, said: Combining the strength of Barclays brand and its distribution networks in Spain, Portugal and Italy with CNPs expertise in insurance product design and manufacture will be a winning combination for our organisations, our shareholders and, most importantly, our customers.
The global assault on banking fees begins
Leading banks in the US and UK have joined their Australian counterparts in reducing fees for retail customers (see Australian price war story, RBI 617), the latest sign that the repercussions of the financial crisis are precipitating a sea-change in banking practices in Anglo-Saxon economies. In an early response to increasingly forthright political pressure on overdraft fees in the US, Bank of America (BofA), JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and US Bank have become the first major banks to announce cuts to penalty charges.
Chase launches Blueprint analysis tool
JPMorgan Chases card unit has rolled out Chase Blueprint, an online billing platform designed to help its 20 million cardholders better manage their spending and borrowing. In particular, Blueprint will let customers finance some purchases while paying off the rest interest-free, with the online management tool also calculating the interest cardholders can save by paying more than the monthly minimum.
Cautiously optimistic
Europes leading banking groups have reported a mixed set of results, though the part-nationalised banks in the UK have continued to show real balance sheet weakness in the wake of the financial crisis Dan Jones reports.RBIs analysis of the interim results at 25 leading European institutions shows an industry that is once again widely divergent in performance but united by a tone of cautious optimism optimistic due to a growing belief that the worst of the crisis is over, but cautious given the sheer extent of the initial slump and the risk of a double-dip recession.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Chasing loyalty in an unrewarding market
Hit by major losses in its card division in the first half of 2009, JPMorgan Chase, the third-largest card issuer in the US, is attempting to bounce back by launching Chase Sapphire, a rewards-laden credit card targeted at the mass affluent sector and backed by a major advertising campaign Dan Jones reports.JPMorgan Chases launch of Sapphire, a mass affluent credit card aimed at US households earning at least $80,000 per annum, highlights two key trends in the wider banking industry at the moment: a significant push on loyalty programmes and better rewards packages; and a growing focus on the mass affluent segment
Write-downs push ING Direct into the red
A series of significant write-downs have led to ING Direct, the direct banking arm of Dutch insurance giant ING, to post a net loss of 68 million ($96.5 million) for the first six months of 2009 ING itself posted a 578 million profit a year-on-year fall of 70 percent over the same period. Net interest income at ING Direct rose from 1.18 billion a year previous to 1.52 billion in the first two quarters of 2009, a result of higher customer balances and larger interest margins, but total investment and other income slid to a 553 million loss versus a 59 million profit a year ago
Interim profits dip at Singapore’s big three
Singapores big three DBS, OCBC and UOB have reported lower profits for the first half of 2009 as the recession continues to impact on bank balance sheets At DBS, net profit for the period slipped by 21 percent year-on-year to S$1 billion ($690 million), while a similar story at OCBC saw the groups net income slip by 20 percent to S$1 billion At UOB, meanwhile, net profit fell by 22 percent to S$880 million.
Merging cards and mobiles into one at Itau
Ita Unibanco, Brazils largest commercial bank, has partnered with Brazils leading telecoms firm Vivo to launch both a new credit card and a mobile payments system Dan Jones spoke to Carlos Zanvettor, director of credit cards at Ita Unibanco, about the project and the benefits the bank expects from the innovations.Brazils Ita Unibanco, formed from the merger of Banco Ita and Unibanco in late 2008, believes a strategic card partnership with telecoms group Vivo will enable it to forge ahead in the countrys emerging m-payments segment, a channel which it sees as encouraging customer loyalty as well as payment volumes The initial agreement will see the two firms launch the Vivo Itaucard, a product designed to provide benefits to prepaid and post-pay mobile users every time they use the card
India’s banks announce very strong profits
For the fiscal quarter ended 30 June, SBI posted net profit up 42 percent at INR23.3 billion ($482 million) compared with INR16.4 billion in the year-ago-quarter, largely driven by trading income; net interest margin fell sharply however to 2.3 percent from 3 percent a year ago as it hovered up lending market share gains. The countrys largest private sector lenders, ICICI and HDFC, reported net earnings up by 20.6 percent and 31 percent to INR8.8 billion and INR6.1 billion respectively, both helped by higher trading income helping to make up for sharp falls in retail profits.