All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
First Rand set to snap up Nigeria’s Sterling Bank
South Africas First Rand is set to acquire a majority stake in Nigerian-based lender Sterling Bank. First Rand has been eyeing up acquisition opportunities in Nigeria since the countrys central bank injected around NGN620bn of bail out funds into nine Nigerian lenders in 2009.
US bank failures hit 34 for the year to date
Regulators have closed a further six US banks to bring bank failures for the year to date to 34. By this stage last year, more than 50 US banks had failed; by the end of the year, bank failures totaled 157. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shuttered lenders based in Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota and Mississippi on 15 April, the largest of which was Alabama-based Superior Bank.
Canadians target debt and spending levels: RBC
The survey found that 39% of respondents plan to pay off debt as much as possible; 30% of those surveyed were focused on spending less, 23% were looking to save or invest more while 25% said they intend to do all of these.
Russian Banks Must Transform Operating Models by 2015: Accenture
The Russian banking market is set for dramatic changes over the next four years, driven by changing customer behaviour, intense competition and new banking models, according to a report Russias Banking Sector in 2015: Winning the Battle for Customers, conducted by Accenture. According to the research, nine out of ten Russian bankers believe that intense competition is inevitable over the next four years and will be driven primarily by reduced margins (cited by 90% of respondents), declining customer trust and loyalty (cited by 80%) and changing customer behaviour (also cited by 80%).
Bank of America posts Q1 net income of $2bn, down 35%
Bank of America (BofA)has reported net income of $2.05bn for the three months to 31 March, a fall of 35.5% from the $3.18bn earned by the US’ largest retail bank in the year-ago period Results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 were boosted by lower credit costs, gains from equity investments and higher investment banking revenue; BofA also reported strong growth in deposits.
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NCR to target indirect channel growth
US-headquartered self-service solution provider, NCR, has kicked off an expansion strategy for its global indirect business, with the aim of transforming the unit from good to great across the retail, financial services, travel and healthcare sectors. The plan was unveiled by David Wilkinson, NCRs newly appointed vice president of global channel sales, at the companys global partner conference in Orlando on 12 April.
Record Q1 profit for JPMorgan Chase, retail results mixed
In the three months to 31 March, JPMorgan Chase recorded net income of $5.6bn, up almost 70% from the corresponding period a year ago. But the Retail Financial Services unit reported a net loss of $208m, an increase of more than 50% from the net loss of $131m posted in the prior year.
UK parliament committee to reconsider cheques axe
The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) a group of backbench Members of Parliament which scrutinises the UK finance ministry, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority – is to reopen an inquiry into the proposed phasing out of cheques in the country by 2018 The TSCs initiative followed release of a report from the consultants Forrester, “Next-Generation Digital Financial Services,” which reported that UK consumers continue to lag other major European banking markets in the use of digital channels.
Raiffeisen introduces Air Berlin and NIKI Visa Card
Raiffeisen Bank International has rolled out an all-in-one Visa branded credit card and frequent flier card in cooperation with the airlines air Berlin and flyNiki. The Air Berlin and NIKI Visa Card is linked to topbonus, the frequent flier programme of the airlines. Cardholders will be able to automatically earn reward miles both on flights and from transactions with topbonus cooperation partners each time they make a payment or withdraw money
Oracle announces Helm Bank, Sacombank deals
Colombias Helm Bank, the former Banco de Crdito, is to implement Oracles software and hardware to run its core banking, customer-facing services and marketing functions. According to the vendor, Exadata is the only database machine that provides extreme performance for both data warehousing and online transaction processing.