All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Barclaycard loyalty programme on track
Barclaycard, the card division of the UKs third-largest bank Barclays, has moved a step closer to establishing an ambitious loyalty rewards programme in partnership with UK retailers. In particular, the vendor will develop the software that enables cardholders to participate in a programme expected to encompass retailers ranging from sole traders to major high street names
Europe’s largest start-up for 30 years’
Since its launch last November, Polands Alior Bank has exceeded even its own ambitious launch targets in terms of customer numbers, deposits and branch expansion, in Europes largest banking start-up for 30 years
Early TARP repayments earns US state 18% ROI
The US Treasury has given the green light to 10 banks to start repaying the capital they received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a month after JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and American Express filed applications with regulators for permission to repay the funds.
Nedbank offers Personal Money Manager
Nedbank has begun offering a free online money management tool to its customers, a move which it says is a first for the South African market The Personal Money Manager, downloaded from Nedbanks website, enables the banks customers to analyse and track transactions on their bank statements which are downloaded through internet banking
Canadian banks beat analyst H1 forecasts
But Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) slipped to a second quarter loss of C$50 million ($44.5 million), its first quarterly loss since 1993, as a result of C$1 billion of writedowns from its US retail and residential builder finance lending portfolios. RBC CEO Gordon Nixon said that Canadian banking showed growth; that capital-markets profits were strong; and we believe we have tremendous momentum in all of our businesses with the exception of US retail banking.
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Barclays India launches new reward scheme
Barclays Bank in India has announced it is to team up with credit card and payment solutions provider ElectraCard Services to launch a new loyalty system The new platform means Barclays customers can now benefit from various loyalty programmes and receive rewards across multiple banking channels. Barclays Reward Points programme is a loyalty plan in which customers are incentivised to use alternative channels of the bank
US Bank launches package at the military
US Bank, the countrys sixth-largest bank, has rolled out Military Benefits, a checking account programme aimed at members of the US military, including active duty, reserve and retired personnel and veterans. Armed forces members signing up to the package will receive free ATM transactions at all ATMs, including non-US Bank ATMs, an interest-bearing current account, free cheques and money orders, travelers cheques and cashiers cheques.
Insurance revenue up 7% for US banks in 2008
Banking groups in the US experienced an increase of 7.2 percent in their total insurance revenue from $10.15 billion in 2007 to $10.88 billion in 2008, according to a survey by the American Bankers Insurance Association and Michael White Associates (MWA) Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America led all bank holding companies with significant banking activities in total insurance fee income in 2008
OTP strong Q1, on course for 2009 target
OTP, Hungarys largest banking group, easily outperformed analysts forecasts in the first quarter, although net income fell by 24 percent to HUF41.8 billion ($205.4 million) on increased provisions and losses at its Ukrainian subsidiary.
Still a rebel with a cause
The US unit of ING Direct has earned its Dutch parent accumulated pre-tax profits of around 1 billion since it launched in the country in 2000, in the process revolutionising direct banking