All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Afribank upgrades infrastructure with Temenos
Afribank, the fourth-largest Nigerian bank by branches, opted for Temenos solution last February following an evaluation process involving solutions from core banking rivals Infosys and Oracle.
La Caixa announces birth of CaixaBank, posts FY10 profits down 12%
La Caixa, the public sector Spanish lender, is to change its name to CaixaBank, shore up its capital base and shed its toxic assets to a bad bank, ahead of a stock market listing. La Caixas restructuring – it is targeting to complete its reorganisation by August is expected to create the10th largestlender in the eurozone by market cap.
Caja Madrid, Bancaja, lead seven way merger
The merger of seven Spanish cajas will create Spains biggest savings bank and the countrys third-largest bank by assets. The 2,169-branch-strong Caja Madrid and Bancaja (1,578 branches) will merge operations with five smaller savings banks: Caja Insular de Canarias, Caixa Laietana, Caja Segovia, Caja Rioja and Caja Avila, creating a merged entity with 340bn in total assets. The seven cajas kicked off merger discussions last June following pressure from the Spanish government and Bank of Spain to speed up consolidation of the countrys banking sector.
US Bank snaps up failed First Community Bank
US Bank, the countrys fifth-largest bank by assets, has acquired New Mexico-based failed lender, First Community Bank, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The 38-branch-strong First Community Bank – 35 branches in New Mexico and three units in Arizona – had approximately $2.31 billion in total assets and $1.94 billion in total deposits as of 30 September.
ADCB back in the black: posts AED391m FY10 profit
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) – the third largest bank in the United Arab Emirates and second largest in Abu Dhabi by assets – has reported a net profit of AED391m ($106.m) for the 12 months to 31 December, compared to a net loss of AED513m in the prior year.
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Bank of America to deploy Diebold’s OpteView Resolve solution
Bank of America (BofA) is to upgrade its 17,000-plus network of ATMs with Diebolds OpteView Resolve management solution. Diebold said that OpteView Resolve uses real-time terminal data and analytics to provide optimal network uptime, while allowing banks to leverage their ATM network as a strategic channel, enabling cost reductions, increased efficiencies and an enhanced consumer experience.
Fiserv, WorkLight team up to develop apps
Fiserv, the US-based end-to-end business and technology solution provider for financial organisations, has partnered with multi-channel application tech vendor WorkLight. The two firms will develop financial services apps and widgets for desktops, smartphones and tablet computers, to help financial institutions maximise the potential of social networking sites. Initially, the two companies will focus on the delivery of lightweight, toolkit payment applications for gifting, alerts, and donations that will complement existing Fiserv products and services
YouGov: Value for money top switching motivation
Enhanced customer service and longer opening hours may be wasted on potential account switchers, who now favour cash incentives and value for money, according to a report from pollsters YouGov. Better value for money (50%) and lower bank charges (49%) the topped the poll, leaving customer services (42%) trailing in third
Bank of China taps IBM to cut paper consumption by 95%
The UK unit of Bank of China has slashed its paper consumption by 95%, in the process saving £12,000($18,980)a year previously spent on paper Bank of China said that software from IBM Informix helped its London-based unit to automate the processing of interbank, or SWIFT messages that the branch receives every day. Bank of China staff in London now has access to messages through an online search capability, allowing them to monitor transactions as they are sent and received by the bank.
Wincor Nixdorf releases youth banking solutions
Wincor Nixdorf has released a range of solutions at its annual Wincor World trade show in Paderborn, designed to help banks target the youth and young adult segments of the market. The launches include software dubbed Sparbchse (Moneybox), an application for school-age children, which enables them to deposit cash, collect savings points and choose savings gifts at ATMs.