All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
LendingTree.com waits for full bloom
LendingTree.com boasts a website attracting almost two million unique visitors each month In a little over 10 years, the US online lending exchange has facilitated more than 23 million loan requests and $185 billion in closed loan transactions
HSBC prepares for a tougher 2009
The worlds largest retail bank, HSBC, has bitten the bullet and announced that it will raise capital some £12.5 billion ($17.7 billion), a record for a UK-headquartered institution in a move indicative of both a souring outlook for its markets in Asia and the ongoing disaster of Household, the US consumer finance business it purchased for $14.7 billion in stock in 2003.
Banco do Brasil sees net income soar 74%
Banco do Brasil, the state-owned bank in the middle of digesting rival Banco Nossa Caixa, has reported its net income, including one-off items, shot up 74 percent in 2008 to BRL8.8 billion ($3.72 billion)
RBS’s closing down sale
Having posted a net loss of £24.1 billion, inclusive of a £16.2 billion goodwill write-down, Royal Bank of Scotland plans to scale back business in 36 countries, two-thirds of its global presence, with its retail operations concentrated on the core markets of the UK, Ireland and the US, reports Douglas Blakey.Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), nationalised and bankrupt save for UK government support, has announced plans to reduce its swollen $3.1 trillion balance sheet by a quarter over the next three to five years
The right call
Douglas Blakey talks to V Vaidyanathan, member of ICICI Banks board and director for retail banking Despite the challenging economic environment in India, he says his bank has grown its low-cost deposit base, maintained its net interest margin and kept operating expenses flat in a year when it doubled its branch network to 1,400 units.
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10 million customers and counting
But while retail profits fell by 25 percent, the banks retail CE0, Louis von Zeuner, tells Douglas Blakey that Absas distribution initiatives have helped it reach record numbers of customers.Absas innovative multichannel distribution strategy has helped the bank confront increasingly challenging market conditions in South Africa, with its customer base increasing by 12.3 percent during 2008 to pass the 10 million barrier
NIBC launches direct assault
NIBC, the unlisted Dutch bank owned by a consortium led by US investment group JC Flowers, has rolled out its most ambitious retail banking initiative to date: the launch of a direct banking service in Germany to complement a mortgage operation set up in the country in 2007.The banks German expansion follows the September 2008 debut of its NIBC Direct brand in the Netherlands, home of direct banking pioneer ING (see ING Direct: more customers, less profit)
Wells Fargo gets personal
The bank argues the new service will strengthen its brand differentiation in the US, increase card usage and boost its already industry-leading cross-sell ratio, reports Douglas Blakey.Already boasting one of the highest debit and credit card penetration rates among its retail banking customer base (92 percent and 38 percent, respectively), Wells Fargo has added another string to its marketing bow with the introduction of a card personalisation service
New generation advertising
One US financial services company, brokerage ETrade, buoyed by the success of past Super Bowl ads, dug deep in the hope of repeating the trick, reports Douglas Blakey.The biggest advertising event of the year in the US American footballs end-of-season showcase, the Super Bowl has again formed the centrepiece of an ad campaign from leading US retail brokerage, ETrade
BNP Paribas set for top deposits slot
BNP Paribas (BNPP) will become the largest bank by deposits in the eurozone if, as is now expected, Fortis shareholders agree revised takeover terms at a shareholders meeting on 11 February. The acquisition of Fortis banking interests will give BNPP an extra 3.3 million retail customers in Belgium and Luxembourg and increase its branch network by more than 1,400 outlets. Confirmation that BNPP and Fortis had agreed revisions to the deal, originally announced in October last year, came within days of BNPP reporting it would post a full-year net profit of around 3 billion ($3.8 billion).