All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Europe’s banks report depressed H1 earnings
The majority of Europes major banking groups have reported falling overall earnings for the half-year period (see table) Retail and consumer banking figures, plagued by rising bad debts and decreasing wealth, were particularly badly hit Nevertheless, the results were largely viewed positively, with many analysts forecasting upwards figures for the second half of 2009
Indonesia gets ‘first class’ branches
Indonesias largest private sector lender, Bank Central Asia, has kicked off an ambitious branch transform-ation project, designed to rejuvenate its network with a range of customer-centric outlets The modernised branches are already boasting revenue increases of more than 20 percent, reports Douglas Blakey.Once derided as the sick man of the Asian financial system and a country mired in economic mismanagement, few banking sectors have attracted as much international interest in the past two years as Indonesia. The worlds fourth most populous country with a population of 230 million, only one-third of whom currently use the banking sector continues to be eyed up by major international banking groups, spurred by optimistic economic fundamentals and a supportive regulatory environment.
Standard Bank rolls out first global ad campaign, Moving Forward
South Africas Standard Bank, the countrys largest, has rolled out its first integrated global and in-country advertising campaign to support the groups growth in emerging markets The campaign, launched in mid-July, is targeted to reach 475 million people in about 30 countries. Sarah-Anne Orphanides, Standard Banks group marketing director, said in a statement: From a marketing perspective, we are positioning Standard Bank as a single brand, as a globally-focused bank with emerging markets at the core, and as a strong regional bank.
Spoof ad campaign from BNP Paribas’s Cetelem targets ‘irresponsible lending’
Cetelem, the consumer finance subsidiary of Frances BNP Paribas, has introduced a new promotional campaign that the business says reaffirms its commitment to responsible lending. According to Cetelem, the campaign completely discards the sectors usual codes via a message which singles out bad lending practices and extreme sales methods by means of contrast with Cetelems own lending activities. Centring on a spoof commercial for fictional irresponsible lender Bingo Credit, the advertising promotion will also extend to newspaper and magazine adverts, online banners, and street marketing involving deliverymen handing out leaflets to consumers in Paris.
SunTrust, PNC outrank BofA, Wells Fargo on online ‘accessibility’
A new study into online banking accessibility in the US has found that SunTrust and PNC have overtaken previous market-leading peers Bank of America and Wells Fargo in having the most user-friendly websites. Other notable results from the study, conducted by US web design consultancy Change Sciences Group, included a bottom-placed ranking for online banking pioneer ING Direct
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European banks could raise $78bn in 6 months, say analysts
A fresh round of capital raisings totalling as much as $78 billion could take place across the European financial services sector over the next six months as banks look to meet capital requirements and pay back funds, JPMorgan Securities has said. SocGen announced a 4.8 billion ($7.1 billion) capital raising on 6 October; JPMorgan estimated that a $6 billion shortfall at SocGen, coupled with an estimated $17 billion at Commerzbank in Germany and a collective $17 billion at Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland would form over 50 percent of the total requirement at European banks.
UK’s Tesco rebrands banking arm
Tesco Personal Finance, the financial services arm of the worlds third-largest retailer, has rebranded as Tesco Bank, reflecting its ongoing ambition to become a full-service retail bank offering current accounts and mortgages in competition with the established UK high street lenders (see RBI 610) Since spending £950 million to buy out joint venture consumer finance partner Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) last year, Tesco has grown client numbers by 300,000 and now has more than 6 million customer accounts across its savings, loans and credit card product portfolio.
US Bank unveils third m-banking application
US Bank, the sixth-largest American bank by assets, has launched a Mobile Wallet solution for its customers allowing them to check balances, review transaction history, transfer funds between accounts, check rewards balances and view special offers. The downloadable application, developed in conjunction with m-banking service provider Firethorn, is optimised for a variety of the most popular mobile devices with more being added each week, according to the bank. The application is the third such service in US Banks portfolio of mobile banking offerings, complementing an existing SMS alert service and a US Bank web portal configured for mobile phone access
B is for bank, says Crédit Agricole
Andr Coisne, BforBanks CEO, tells Douglas Blakey he has set an ambitious target for its first year of up to 40,000 customers and total deposits of around 2 billion, a market share of 2 percent in FranceAimed specifically at the wealthiest 20 percent of the French market, BforBank is Crdit Agricoles latest shot at increasing its dominance of the countrys mass affluent and retail financial services market BforBank is a direct banking subsidiary offering savings, pensions and investment products in a direct challenge to established online subsidiaries operated by its main retail banking rivals.
Fortis outlines plan to restore growth
Belgian bancassurer Fortis brought to within a whisper of bankruptcy last year has announced the outcome of its strategic review after a five-month process which began just before the acquisition of Fortis Bank by Frances BNP Paribas in May. According to the group, Fortis is now in a strong position to prosper as an international insurance group, with further expansion to be explored principally through partnerships with distributors such as UBI Banca in Italy and Tesco in the UK (see RBI 619), though the group said it would focus principally on improving the profitability of its existing operations.