All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Fiserv bags coveted Tesco UK deal
The rapid expansion of the banking unit of the UKs biggest retailer, Tesco, gathers pace The company recently gave an upbeat presentation to analysts and has selected Fiserv to supply its core banking platform Douglas Blakey spoke to Carol Cowan, vice-president of product management and marketing, bank solutions at Fiserv.
Gemalto looks at Serverside, Xiring
Dutch payments technology specialist Gemalto has increased its stake in UK-based card personalisation outfit Serverside and is also looking at purchasing the banking unit of rival French security firm Xiring The deals are a sign of Gemaltos growth plans as part if its 2013 Development Plan, reports Douglas Blakey.Two deals in November have flagged up the growth ambitions of Netherlands-based digital security vendor Gemalto
Proud to be dull’
In an interview in September 2008, Bert Bruggink, chief financial officer of Rabobank, told RBI the bank could not give any guidance on second-half profits, adding that the outlook for the banking sector remained bleak In direct contrast to long-term Dutch rivals ING and ABN AMRO, Dutch-based co-operative Rabobank ends the year in rude health: its liquidity and capital positions remain strong; it has had no need for government capital injections (so avoids the scrutiny of the European Unions Competition Commissioner); and it remains in growth mode on the look-out for fresh acquisition targets in the new year.
Global Q3s offer mixed results
While total third-quarter net earnings at 20 selected banking groups rose by almost $2.5 billion to $30 billion year-on-year, there was a marked geographic bias with the strongest performing banks based in the US, France and China. Strip out JPMorgan Chases sixfold rise of more than $3 billion in net earnings for the quarter to $3.56 billion driven by strong investment banking and asset management figures but hammered by underperforming retail and card units and net earnings at 20 of the biggest banks to report third-quarter results actually fell (some banks, including HSBC, Lloyds and Standard Chartered, do not publish earnings for the Q3 period). China’s banks had another solid quarter: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank saw net profits rise by around 20 percent year-on-year, boosted by a lending boom in the first half although the rate of increase slowed slightly in the third quarter
DnB NOR blazes paperless trail
Jarle Mortensen, the banks head of retail banking, tells Douglas Blakey there is scope to roll out a paperless, fully electronic delivery service across its full range of lending and savings products.By the autumn of this year, customers of DnB NOR, Norways largest retail bank, will be able to sign loan documents using the countrys innovative BankID electronic identification and signature solution, in one of the most striking examples of the coming of age of e-signatures According to Jarle Mortensen, the banks head of retail banking, this is just the start of a range of possibilities offered by e-signatures.
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Raiffeisen upgrades in Russia
Austrias Raiffeisen International has deepened its relationship with UK fintech player Misys as the bank looks to grow market share in Russia The bank, which has 5 million retail banking customers in the country, says that Misys Midas Plus 1.4 solution will allow it to grow retail lending in the market as quickly as possible.Raiffeisen International has gone live with core banking solution Midas Plus 1.4 from Misys in Russia, part of the Austrian banks big plans for its Russian franchise (ZAO Raiffeisenbank) With 230 branches, Raiffeisen operates the third-largest foreign-owned banking network in Russia after UniCredit and Socit Gnrale in terms of branches, ranks fourth in terms of deposits and sixth in consumer lending based on first-quarter 2009 results.
EU ends ING’s global ambitions
Having spent the past decade trying to convince its stakeholders of the virtues of the bancassurance model, Dutch-headquartered ING is to focus on its banking unit, a result of a harsher than expected restructuring plan foisted on the bank by the European Union (EU) Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. Attention will now inevitably turn to the 30-plus banks throughout Europe which await EU competition commission rulings, including KBC, the three biggest banks in Ireland and the UK pair of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
BofA retains top deposits slot
Total US deposits enjoyed double-digit growth while employment and branch numbers at the biggest retail banks rose despite the banking turmoil, reports Douglas Blakey.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has released its Summary of Deposits (SD) report, an annual snapshot of branch office deposits as of 30 June for all FDIC-insured commercial banks, savings institutions and insured branches of foreign banks in the US
IT spending to return to normal in 2012
The IT industry is exiting its worst ever year and is on track to return to growth in 2010 with spending forecast to total $3.3 trillion, a 3.3 percent increase from 2009 But, according to consultancy Gartner, the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012, reports Douglas Blakey.Information technology spending in 2009 will be down 5.2 percent on 2008 levels according to a report from IT research firm Gartner, but is set to rise by 3.3 percent in 2010 to reach $3.3 trillion.
It’s a Brighter Planet
When Bank of America teamed up with US-based Brighter Planet, an independent environmental services company, in late 2007 to launch ethical credit and debit cards, there was much optimism that the products could make a difference in tackling climate change Douglas Blakey examines progress to date.The November 2007 announcement that Bank of America (BofA), then as now the largest retail bank in the US, was to partner with US environmental services company Brighter Planet to offer credit and debit cards that helped customers reduce their carbon footprint was one of the first retail banking initiatives arising from the banks much publicised, ten-year, $20 billion commitment to support the growth of environmentally sustainable business activity.