All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Positive Q2 for US banks despite pressure
Second-quarter net income rose at 13 of the US largest 20 retail banks, with the four largest lenders Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all reporting lower net charge-offs compared with the same period last year. But margin pressure remains a live issue, reports Douglas Blakey. At first glance, there are many positives to take from the second quarter performance of the largest US-headquartered retail banks. Second quarter net income rose at the majority of the largest 20 US retail banks, both year-on-year and quarter-over quarter
ING set to put its UK unit out of its misery
One might be forgiven for saying about time too, but finally ING has announced that the future of its ING Direct operations in the UK is under review. INGs rather more successful Canadian operation is also said to be on the block. Since setting up shop in the UK in 2003, ING Direct has been one of the less well publicized banking disappointments. In the period from 2003 to the end of 2011, it has accumulated losses of 321m ($398.3m) and only managed to post any sort of a profit in two years (2006 and 2009). It has changed its UK management more than once and tinkered with its product range: all to no avail.
US credit card delinquencies hit record low
Credit quality in US credit card portfolios continued to strengthen in June according to consultants SNL Financial. American Express (Amex) continued to report a sector leading delinquency rate (flat at 1.31%) ahead of Discover (down 5 basis points on the month to 1.88%). Capital Ones rate also remained flat, at 2.89%. The three largest US bank credit card issuers all posted monthly delinquency falls.
ABSA unveils Branch of Tomorrow
As part of a concerted multichannel investment programme, Barclays South Africa-based subsidiary ABSA has unveiled its Test Lab Branch concept store just outside Johannesburg. ABSAs branch investment programme complements the release in May of its new online banking platform. Douglas Blakey reports. ABSA has ramped up its branch investment strategy witht the launch of an innovative Laboratory branch at Clearwater Mall near Johannesburg. ABSA is using the new branch as a test lab to develop what it terms innovative products and processes prior to rolling them out the remainder of its 900-strong-branch-network. ABSA will use the main banking space to showcase community engagement and marketing promotions, such as its extensive sports sponsorship.
Coop agrees bargain deal for 632 Lloyds branches
The Co-operative (Coop) Bank will become the UKs sixth-largest bank by branches as a result of agreeing a deal to snap up 632 branches from Lloyds Banking Group A statement from the Coop and Lloyds said that the respective banks were now working towards agreeing definitive, binding documentation, subject to the satisfactory completion of further due diligence and Board approvals
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Survey reveals upbeat growth forecast
A report to be published by VRL in August, Industry Dynamics, Market Trends and Opportunities, Marketing Spend and Sales Strategies in Retail Banking, will show that 45% of respondents are more optimistic about revenue growth over the next 12 months than the previous 12-month period. Douglas Blakey reports. An extensive survey of senior banking industry executives surveyed by VRL and Timetric in the first half of 2012, finds that almost one-half of those questioned are upbeat about revenue growth prospects in the next 12 months. Among the mid-sized banks, 41% expect a growth in revenues, while 23% are less optimistic.
Going beyond mobile wallets
A report from the pollsters YouGov, flagged up to me James Richards of the service provider Intelligent Environments, gave me pause for thought. Bluntly, students are leading the drive towards take up of mobile money technology at a lightning fast rate. According to YouGov, 53% of students who own a smartphone would manage their bank accounts via their mobile device. A quarter (25%) of students with a smartphone meanwhile said they would use their mobile for peer to peer transfers, while almost one-half of students (47%) said that they would be interested in using their mobile device, if possible, to swipe across a payment reader to wave and pay for goods or services.
Greenlight reveals latest 360 degree analysis of UK banks digital marketing strategy
The 12th edition of its Retail Banking report from digital marketing experts Greenlight Digital brings out a number of interesting statistics In April, loans-related terms accounted for more than 792,000 searches in the UK a depressing 17% of which related to the term payday loans.MoneySupermarket was the most visible website, achieving a 59% share of voice through ranking at position one for 81 keywords, including loan calculator.Tesco Bank attained a 32% share of visibility through ranking at position three for the high volume search term loans.Since the last Greenlight report in January, Santander saw its share of voice increase by 3% and it rose from ninth to sixth place in the table.Barclays (5th) was the only other High Street bank to feature in the top 10.Halifax (14th) and Lloyds TSB (15th) were the only other traditional retail banks to make the top 20.Greenlights report also drilled down to analyse which banks and financial services websites feature most prominently in the paid media space.An advertisers share of voice is based on: how often they were present on Google, which ad position they bid for and the associated search volume for the keywords they bid on.Greenlight scored advertisers across 120 keywords in AprilMoneySupermarket was the most visible advertiser, achieving a dominant 75% share of voice through bidding on 136 keywords, at an average ad position of three.HSBC attained a 26% share of visibility through bidding on 83 keywords, at an average ad position of three.The growing importance of social media is slowly being recognised by banks as part of their marketing strategy.Greenlight analysed 15 leading brands and measured their engagement by monitoring their fans and followers acrossvarious social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube presences.Halifax was the most visible brand in Greenlights social media analysis, whileMoneySavingExpert had the largest number of people following its Twitter account (73,000).By
End of UK free checking draws near
Bank of England executive director for banking supervision Andrew Bailey attracted the attention of the consumer press with his argument that the “myth” of free banking enjoyed by customers when not overdrawn made it hard to link costs to products and services received. The outgoing head of retail banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, Brian Hartzer, lost little time in echoing Baileys argument. UK current account customers will not warm to Hartzers sentiment or its likely implications but the High Street banks will welcome the momentum towards the end of free checking if-in-credit. It is a trend already being endured by customers in Ireland. If the banking crisis was bad in the UK, it was far worse across the Irish Sea. Following a sector wide crisis in 2008 the cost to the Irish taxpayer so far is about 70bn, give or take – six Irish owned banks have become two so called pillar banks.
ABSA takes the wraps off Branch of Tomorrow
Barclays South Africa-based subsidiary ABSA has unveiled its Test Lab Branch concept store, dubbed Branch of Tomorrow, Today at Clearwater Mall, just outside Johannesburg ABSA will use the prototype branch to develop innovative products and processes prior to rolling these out across its entire branch network. According to ABSA, the aim of the initiative is to ensure that the customers voice remains the driving force behind banking initiatives.