All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
SBI axes fee for savings accounts without minimum balance
State Bank of India (SBI) is to remove the service charge for non-maintenance of savings account minimum balances. SBI said that removing the minimum balance requirement would act as a strong selling point for its savings bank product. SBI branches will continue to require that new accounts are opened with a minimum balance of INR100 ($2.01); a minimum balance requirement of INR50 applies to SBIs No Frills Account.
BofA eyes up an end to free checking: Take 2
Bank of America (BofA) is reportedly to revisit its checking account fees strategy only four months after it dropped its controversial $5 a month debit card fee. BofA blamed the Dodd-Frank regulations for the need to impose a $60 annual fee for debit cardholders. The fee was axed by BofA following a public backlash and developed into a PR disaster for the second-largest US bank by assets.
Nationwide kicks off branch refurbishment programme
The UKs largest mutual Nationwide Building Society has commissioned international construction services company ISG to deliver a branch refurbishment programme. The branch investment programme will cover the entire 700-branch-strong Nationwide network and run until 2013 with the aim of delivering improved customer service.
RBC posts record Q1 Canadian profits
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has beaten analyst forecasts with a first quarter underlying net profit of C$1.88bn (S1.9bn), down 6% year-on-year (y-o-y). Profits at RBCs Canada banking unit rose by 6.5% y-o-y to a record quarterly net income of C$994m for the three months to 31 January.
TD posts record Canadian retail Q1 net profit
Toronto Dominion (TD) has posted a net income of C$1.48bn ($1.5bn), down 5.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) for the three months to 31 January. TDs Canadian Personal and Commercial (P&C) Banking unit posted a record quarter, with reported net income of $826m, up 7.4%.
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HSBC nearing $1bn insurance unit disposal
AXA is being linked with a bid for HSBC’s general insurance business in Asia outside Hong Kong and its Mexico-based insurance unit ; Sky News reported that Australia-based QBE is bidding for HSBC’s Hang Seng insurance operation in Hong Kong and HSBCs insurance unit in Argentina.
Customer service remains key for account switchers: BCG
Retail banks need to reaffirm their trustworthiness in the eyes of customers and pay stricter attention to delivering what they promise, according to a report from the consultants Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCGs survey entitled Customer Centricity in Retail Banking released on 1 March, reports that up to 50% of account switchers moved banks due to a banks marketing & communication sales & service products & pricing or customer experience.
Nedbank posts 26% rise in FY11 profit
Nedbanks retail banking headline earnings more than doubled in the 12 months to 31 December to ZAR2.0bn (2010: ZAR760bn). Nedbanks net interest income grew by 8.6% to ZAR18.0bn boosted by a 11 basis point increase in the net interest margin to 3.46%.
Editor’s letter: Ecobank definitely worth watching
Arguably one of the most significant and headline-grabbing banking deals of the past few months was Ecobanks partnership with Oracle (see Ecobank deploys Oracle FLEXCUBE). Any banks I wanted, subject to selecting a mix of lenders from some of the more interesting emerging as well as the mature markets.
Santander inks Polish deal with KBC
Santander has finally agreed a deal with KBC to acquire the Belgian lenders Poland-based subsidiary Kredyt Bank. Santander will merge its Bank Zachodni WBK unit with Kredyt Bank in an all-share deal that values the combined entity at PLR20.8bn. The newly enlarged Zachodni WBK division of Santander will become the third-largest bank in Poland by branches with 995 outlets (including 96 franchise outlets) serving 3.5m customers.