All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Transformative M&A deals stir Japan, Germany, UK
Retail banking markets in three of the worlds largest economies Japan, Germany and the UK have been transformed with billion-dollar acquisitions.Japans market has been shaken up with Shinseis $5.4 billion purchase of GEs local consumer finance business, a deal which propels Shinsei into the sixth-largest consumer finance player It was, Shinsei said, a unique opportunity to redefine the Japanese consumer finance industry, and gives the bank 2.2 million new accounts, 1,138 branches and distribution points, and total loans outstanding of 884 billion ($8.3 billion).
India – the world’s m-banking hotspot
State Bank of India (SBI), the countrys largest retail bank, has confirmed it will launch its mobile banking service in early July Private sector rivals ICICI, Standard Chartered and Barclays have all launched m-banking products in the country this year (see RBI 588, 586, 585); other state-run banks Bank of India and Union Bank of India are also preparing to launch m-banking services With the rapid growth in the number of mobile phone subscribers in India (about 261 million at the end of March and growing at about 8 million a month, according to the countrys central bank), Indian banks have been keen to explore the feasibility of using mobile phones as an alternative, cheap distribution channel
Enquiry lambasts South Africa’ Big Four
South Africas big four banks have the ability to abuse their market power, the countrys national payment system should be opened to non-banks, and the banks excessive fees contribute to a vicious cycle of consumer indebtedness, according to the long-awaited report by South Africas Competition Commission. After a 22-month-long enquiry, comprising 21 days of public hearings and 101 stakeholder meetings, the commission has finally reported and if its 28 recommendations are adopted, South African banks fees and commission income are set to take a hit. According to the commission, the big four Standard Bank, Barclays-controlled Absa, Nedbank and FirstRand control over 90 percent of the market for personal transaction accounts with fiscal 2006 transactional fee income representing one-third of the banks total income, or ZAR34.5 billion ($4.4 billion).
Banking on Asia
ANZ has revealed ambitious plans to grow its own-branded Asian branch network from 29 units to more than 200 outlets by 2012, and has restated its target of deriving 20 percent of group net profit from the region over the next four years compared with the current 7 percent ANZ, the most internationally-focused of Australias Big Four banks, has said it is aiming to increase its Asian annual net profit to A$1.5 billion ($1.43 billion) by 2012 and increase customer numbers in the region from 131,000 to 1.5 million
The man to beat
Royal Bank of Scotlands global banking ambitions are mirrored in its roster of sponsorship deals, backing some of the sports worlds biggest events Douglas Blakey talks to RBS head of group sponsorship David Webb about the banks sponsorship strategy and its latest ad campaign fronted by golf star Jack Nicklaus Few banks have thrown themselves into sports sponsorship with quite the vigour as the worlds largest bank by assets, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Debit cards as profit drivers
A new report from VRL KnowledgeBank examines best practice in debit cards from around the world and looks, in particular, at the ways banks can maximise profits from their debit card customers The debit card occupies a unique position in retail banking, in mature and emerging economies
Pushing the cross sell
Komercn Bankas first quarter results beat analysts expectations, and Zdenek Mojek, the banks director of marketing, tells Douglas Blakey that the group has ambitious plans centred largely on increasing its already impressive cross-sell ratio of 5.58.The Czech retail banking sector, dominated by the countrys Big Three Belgian bancassurer KBCs Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka (CSOB see KBC bets big on CEE and Russia), Socit Gnrales Komercn Banka (KB) and Erstes Cesk Sporitelna has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, supported by an economy growing at more than 6 percent per year.
ING becomes the latest to tap Ukraine
After expanding into Turkey and Thailand last year, as well as beefing up its Romania operation, ING has now announced the rollout of a greenfield retail banking operation in Ukraine The group says it is aiming to become one of the top five retail banks by rapidly growing a nationwide distribution network of over 250 outlets starting in the largest Ukrainian cities ING says it will copy the successful self-banking model introduced in Romania, an entity that has attracted over 544,000 customers since its launch in September 2004
KBC bets big on CEE and Russia
Belgian bancassurer KBC is betting that Central and Eastern Europe will remain a hotbed of retail banking and consumer finance growth over the next decade While the Czech Republic and Poland will remain its biggest markets in the CEE region, it argues Russia will come to the fore, driven by an ever-wealthier middle class Belgiums KBC is putting branches and bancassurance sales income at the heart of its three-year plan to double its Central and Eastern European business
Europe’s demand for self service
Europes ATMs increased in number for the second year in a row in 2007, according to the latest industry research Although some markets appear to be reaching maturity, rapid growth was still seen in countries such as Turkey, Portugal and even France, with the off-site sector the main growth area Not only did the number of ATMs in western Europe increase last year, but so did their sophistication, according to the annual industry survey from London-based consultancy Retail Banking Research (RBR)