All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
ABN AMRO scores with MoneYou
The digital channels subsidiary of ABN AMRO, MoneYou, has carved a successful niche in its domestic market in the Netherlands since launching a broad range of retail banking services in 2008
BMO posts strong Q112 profit but Canada retail earnings fall by 6.7%
Bank of Montreal (BMO) has kicked off the Canadian reporting season with a strong set of results; first quarter net income of C$1.1bn ($1.12bn) increased by 34% year-on-year. On an underlying basis, net income rose by 19% to C$972m for the three months to 31 January.
30 and counting: Tesselaar on a mission to grow BIAN membership
The Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), the not-for-profit association of leading banks and vendors, is ramping up its efforts to promote a reduction in integration costs and promote the advantages of service oriented architecture. Working closely with other standards initiatives, such as ISO 20022, IFX Forum and Open Group (TOGAF), the OMG Financial Domain Task Force and the TM Forum Enterprise Cloud Leadership Council (ECLC), BIANs mission is to define and set the de facto IT standards for banking interoperability services.
Bank of America targets mass affluent segment with Merrill Edge Select
Bank of America (BofA) has launched an investment product, Merrill Edge Select Portfolios targeted at what it terms the emerging affluent investor. To boost the products appeal to the mass affluent segment, BofA has pitched the minimum investment at $20,000; a management fee of 1% applies to funds. The product will launch will the choice of 10 portfolios, ranging from conservative to aggressive, to align with customers risk tolerance, investment time horizon, liquidity needs and goals.
Retail profits soar 26% as StanChart posts 9th yr of record earnings
Group profit before tax rose by 11% year-on-year for the 12 months to 31 December to $6.78bn, boosted by a 26% rise in retail banking profit before tax to $1.65bn (2010: $1.31bn).
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Javelin highlights increased checking account fees
The average cost to US banks of maintaining a checking account is around $400, according to a report from consultants Javelin Strategy. Javelins The Cost of Regulation: The Necessity of Bank Fees report estimates that major US banks charge almost three times the average fee for basic current accounts compared to community banks. The survey also noted that less than one in ten US current account holders incur overdrafts on a monthly or more frequent basis.
Customer service levels rising: Accenture
A report released by the consultants Accenture has concluded that retail banks in the UK and Ireland have upped their customer service performance. Accenture surveyed almost 4,000 current account customers in the UK and Ireland for the report
Curious ad campaign from Fifth Third
Ohio-headquartered Fifth Third Bank has unveiled a major marketing campaign placing the emphasis on curiosity, innovation and change and backed by a novel ad tagline: The curious bank.
Barclays most complained about UK bank brand in H211
The UK Financial Ombudsman has released banks complaints data for the six month period from July to December. In the second half of 2011, the Ombudsman received a total of 106,193 new complaints Almost half of the complaints (46,700) related to payment protection insurance (PPI) a decrease of 53% on the 98,632 PPI cases received in the first half of 2011.
HSBC FY11 retail profit rises by 11%
HSBC has posted a 6% fall to $17.7bn in underlying gross profit for the 12 months to 31 December. HSBCs retail banking and wealth management business unit contributed less than one dollar in four of group pre-tax profit ($4.2bn, up 11% year-on-year).