All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Arvest stresses commitment to free current accounts
Top 100 US retail lender Arvest Bank has flagged up its ongoing commitment to offering free checking accounts and said that it has no plans to charge for debit card use. As free checking, free debit cards and debit card rewards are on the chopping block at banks across the country, Arvest Bank is committed to providing a feature-rich free checking account with a free debit card, free online and mobile banking, and a debit card rewards programme.
HDFC to issue Diners Club credit cards in India
HDFC Bank, the largest credit card issuer in India, has agreed a deal with US card issuer Discover for HDFC to issue Diners Club credit cards in India.
BBVA linked with CatalunyaCaixa
Spanish-lender BBVA is eyeing up a bid for Barcelona-headquartered savings bank, CatalunyaCaixa, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo CatalunyaCaixa is the fourth-largest savings bank in Spain, the result of a merger last July between Caixa Catalunya, Caixa Tarragona and Caixa Manresa. CatalunyaCaixa serves around 4.1m customers via a distribution network comprising 1,200 branches and has assets of over 81m ($110.8m)
NBK 9M11 profits beat forecasts
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has posted a net profit of KWD225.6m ($818.1m) for the nine months to 30 September, flat compared with the same period last year but ahead of analyst foecasts. NBK operates a branch network of 71 outlets in Kuwait with a retail banking market share of 30% and a credit card market share of around 50%; group wide, NBKs branch network totals 177 across 17 countries.
Bank Dhofar launches Visa Platinum debit card
Oman-headquartered Bank Dhofar has rolled out two Visa-branded cards: a Platinum debit card and Infinite credit card, both targeted at the mass affluent segment. Visa Infinite cardholders will receive 247 concierge services as well as access to 600 airport lounges around the world via the Priority Pass facility. Visa Infinite also includes offers on dining, shopping and lifestyle purchases as well as access to golf clubs, tickets for high-profile cultural events, gym & spa memberships and access to many venues
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Wincor Nixdorf teams up with Level Four
Scotland-headquartered ATM software testing solution provider, Level Four, has teamed up with self-service vendor Wincor Nixdorf to help existing and potential mutual customers realise the benefits of automated testing earlier in the development lifecycle According to the vendors, the Level FourWincor Nixdorf partnership will enable customers to streamline processes and reduce the cost and the time to market of introducing new products and services through the ATM channel. The partnership will focus on mutual clients who have deployed Wincor Nixdorfs multi-vendor ATM application software and who are existing or potential users of Level Fours ATM test automation solution, BRIDGE:test.
M-banking: from ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘must-have’ channel
Javelin Strategy & Research’s third annual Mobile Banking Vendor Scorecard survey concludes that the mobile channel has moved from a nice-to-have to a must-have channel.
Banesto M911 results miss forecasts
Banesto, the retail lender majority owned by Santander, has kicked off the third quarter reporting season with a disappointing set of results, heralding tough times ahead for its Spanish peers. For the nine months to 30 September, Banesto reported a net profit of 298.4m ($405.9m), down 33.8% from the same period last year, missing analyst forecasts in the process. Net interest income fell by 12% for the year to date to 1.13bn; bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose by 85 basis points to 4.65% from 3.8% a year ago.
Capital One: rewards redemption increases in Q3
Capital One said that 47% of consumers surveyed redeemed at least a portion of their rewards in the three months to end September (43.1% in Q1 and 43% in the second quarter). Results also indicated “free money” continues to be the top motivation for consumers to earn and redeem rewards (60.6%) and nearly half (41%) of respondents had previously redeemed credit card rewards for cash
Greece central bank rescues Proton Bank
The central bank of Greece has stepped in to rescue Proton Bank. Proton Bank will be split in two with a so-called good bank, New Proton Bank, acquiring the banks deposits and safe assets. The sole shareholder will be the Greek Financial Stability Fund (FSF); the lender will continue to operate under the Proton brand.