All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Virgin Bank’ launch “on track” for 2011
Virgin Money spokesman Scott Mowbray told RBI that Virgin was on track to roll out a full banking service in 2011, including current account, savings account and branch network.
State Bank of India targets UK growth
State Bank of India (SBI), Indias largest lender, is to grow its seven-branch-strong UK network to 12 outlets.
Shinsei swings back into profit
Mid-sized Japanese lender Shinsei has posted first quarter net profits of 13.9bn ($160.4m) for the three months to 30 June, more than double the 5.2bn net earnings reported in the same quarter last year.
Erste launches new ad campaign
Erste has launched a new advertising campaign to run across all of the Central and Eastern European countries in which the bank operates Philip List, head of group marketing at Erste, tells Douglas Blakey it is the first marketing campaign from the bank to incorporate social media such as Facebook. Austrias Erste Bank kicked off an integrated advertising campaign in its domestic market on 1 July, its most ambitious marketing effort since the onset of the economic crisis
IT investment pays off for BOS
Established in 1995, Bank of Shanghai has become one of the leading commercial banks in China, with assets of $68bn and over 13m customer accounts at the end of 2009 In 2003, anticipating further strong customer and income growth, Bank of Shanghai (BOS) made the decision to replace its core banking system.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Positive US retail banking interims
In contrast to a year ago, half-year results from the biggest US retail banks show an improved performance from their consumer finance units compared to their investment banking divisions
Piraeus aims for number 2 slot
Piraeus Bank, the fourth-largest Greek lender, has bid 701m for the Greek governments stakes in two-loss making rivals, Hellenic PostBank and Agricultural Bank of Greece Piraeus Banks 701m (897.7m) bid for two state-controlled lenders, Hellenic PostBank and Agricultural Bank of Greece (ABG), is being closely examined, according to Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou.
Newcastle unveils next-gen debit card
Newcastle Building Society will be the first UK card issuer to roll out MasterCards innovative digital display debit card Kriya Patel, head of the societys Card Solutions department, tells Douglas Blakey he wants to see the digital display card extended to the prepaid market as soon as possible. Newcastle Building Society (NBS), the UKs eight-largest society by assets, will be the first card issuer in the country to roll out MasterCards digital display debit card.
US branch numbers decline
Total bank branch numbers in the US are set to fall for the first time since 1994. In the past 12 months, branch numbers have fallen at seven of the largest 10 US-headquartered retail banks, with US Bank, BB&T and Keybank the only lenders to buck the trend. In 1995, US branch numbers totalled 80,992 by 2000 the figure had reached 85,473 and has grown every year since.