All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
BBVA Bancomer sets m-banking target
Mexicos largest bank, BBVA Bancomer, is aiming to sign up 80,000 customers within three months of the January launch of its mobile banking service, Bancomer Movil, and half a million clients by the end of 2010. The m-banking service enables clients to check account balances, transfer money between accounts and purchase goods at retailers affiliated with the Nipper mobile payment system.
DBS reports resilient earnings, targets S Asia
DBS, Singapores largest bank by assets, has posted net profits of S$2.06 billion ($1.4 billion) for 2009, unchanged from fiscal 2008 and ahead of analyst forecasts Net interest income grew 4 percent to a record S$4.46 billion with non-interest income rising 24 percent to S$2.15 billion with expenses stable from the previous year. DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta set a target of deriving 30 percent of its revenues from South Asia and South East Asia within the next five years, with 40 percent from Singapore and 30 percent from the greater China region
State Bank of India speeds up expansion plans
Indias biggest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has kicked off the new year with a number of announcements designed to aid an ambitious target of achieving 25 percent business growth over the next few years.
US Bank launches START savings scheme
US Bank is the latest major bank to launch a savings-based affinity programme in a bid to encourage the savings habit Douglas Blakey spoke to Stephanie Miller, vice-president of product development, about the START programme, set to be rolled out across the US Bank footprint following a successful pilot. In a bid to kick-start customers increasing their savings balances, US Bank, the fifth-largest US bank by deposits, has rolled out a new savings programme, Savings Today And Rewards Tomorrow (START).
Good.bee mobile banking starts to fly
Good.bee, a microfinance and social entrepreneurship initiative of the Erste Foundation, launched its first project in Romania last April with a mobile banking service combined with a basic bank account and debit card Good.bee, a joint-venture comprising the Erste Foundation and Erstes Romanian subsidiary Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), has got off to a satisfactory start, signing up 15,000 customers since its launch in April last year.
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ICICI, First Data agree joint venture
A deal agreed last year between ICICI and First Data has now received Reserve Bank of India approval, paving the way for a merchant-acquiring alliance widely expected to accelerate card growth ICICI Bank, Indias largest private sector bank, and global payment processor First Data have formed a merchant-acquiring alliance named ICICI Merchant Services
US card companies ‘dodging reform’
US credit card companies are imposing hidden charges and deceptive fees, according to a report from consumer advocacy non-profit organisation the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). The CRL study, Dodging Reform: As Some Credit Card Abuses Are Outlawed, New Ones Proliferate, flagged-up eight examples of card issuers exploiting legal loopholes to compensate for lost future revenue once the CARD Act is fully in force:
Wells remains top in ACSI survey, credit unions slip back
Customer satisfaction remains high at US community banks and is improving at some of the countrys largest retail banks, but has fallen sharply in the past year at credit unions, according to the widely watched 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The annual survey, published by the University of Michigans Ross School of Business on 14 December, reported that Wells Fargo remains top for customer satisfaction of the countrys largest retail banks.
Chase posts retail profits collapse
JPMorgan Chase has posted miserable full-year consumer banking results for fiscal 2009 with a near profits wipeout down from $880 million in 2008 to $97 million at its Retail Financial Services (RFS) unit. Despite Chases retail woes, group-wide it reported full year net profits of $11.73 billion, more than double the $5.61 billion earned in fiscal 2008 and well ahead of analyst forecasts.
Citi punching above its weight in Indian retail banking
In an effort to kick-start its recovery, beleaguered Citi is to focus increasingly on the major emerging markets N Rajashekaran, the banks country business manager in India, tells Douglas Blakey Citi is well placed to punch above its weight in a local banking sector which continues to post double-digit growth.Few banks have endured such a torrid 18 months or attracted as many negative headlines as once-mighty Citi, culminating in the imminent ignominy of the US government becoming its largest shareholder with a 34 percent stake (once around $25 billion of preferred shares convert to common stock).