All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
BT showcases the futuristic Agile Bank
Technology has come a long way since global telecoms supplier BT showcased its first Agile Bank branch of the future in 2002 To reflect these changes, BT has worked with a range of leading industry partners to create a new concept branch
Demand for online innovation soars
UK retail banks are failing to maximise the potential of the internet, despite the increase in popularity of the online platform, according to a consumer survey from telecoms firm Cable&Wireless.
HSBC beats forecasts: H1 profits rise 3.3% to $11.47bn
HSBC has beaten analyst forecasts with an interim profit before tax of $11.47bn, up 3.3% from the year ago period. First half highlights included a more than doubling of pre-tax profit at HSBCs retail banking and wealth management unit, to $3.13bn, largely driven by falling impairments. At group level, loans increased by 16.1% to $1.04trn while customer deposits increased by 14.9% to $1.32trn.
BancaPosta scores instant loyalty hit
Sconti BancoPosta, the loyalty programme launched by Banca Posta less than 12 months ago, has already been acclaimed by analysts and industry observers as among the most successful retail banking launches of the year. Banco Posta, the financial services arm of the Italian Post Office, rolled out the Sconti loyalty programme last September.
Peluso continues to raise the bar
Michelle Peluso, global head of marketing and internet banking at Citigroup, tells Douglas Blakey that Citi is on target to become the worlds leading financial services player in the digital space In the next year, Citi will make major announcements in terms of its mobile, online and tablet banking offerings.
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Bringing Advice to life pays off for RBC
Dave McKay, head of Canadian banking at Royal Bank of Canada, is aiming to achieve 25% volume growth premium to its four main rivals Despite far from favourable market conditions, McKay tells Douglas Blakey RBC is almost on track to achieve what is a very challenging target. Few major banks around the world have come through the economic crisis as well as Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
Eight EU banks fail EBA stress test
The eight lenders core Tier 1 Ratio fell below the 5% threshold, with an overall capital shortfall of 2.5bn ($3.54bn). An additional 16 banks – with Core Tier 1 Ratios of between 5% and 6% – narrowly passed the test.
Demand for online innovation soars: Cable&Wireless
UK retail banks are failing to maximise the potential of the online banking channel, despite the increase in popularity of the online platform, according to a consumer survey from telecoms firm Cable&Wireless. The report found that 60% of respondents said that their banks online offering had become increasingly important to them in the past two years, ranking it higher in importance than banks trustworthiness, interest rates and bank charges.
Lloyds branch sale gathers pace
The UKs largest retail bank, Lloyds Banking Group, is expected to close a deal for the 633 branches it is selling – one in five of its entire network – by the end of August. The European Union had ordered Lloyds to dispose of the branches by November 2013 in return for receiving a taxpayer funded bailout of up to £20bn in 2018.
Regions taps Fiserv to launch P2P service, Regions Personal Pay
Alabama-headquartered lender Regions Bank has launched Regions Personal Pay, a person-to-person (P2P) payments service on Fiservs ZashPay platform. The service allows checking and money market customers who use Regions online banking channel to send or receive money from anyone who has a bank account in the US. Once enrolled to use Regions Personal Pay, users can send payments to a recipients email address or mobile phone number