All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
Nedbank buys other half of Old Mutual Bank, plans rebrand and targets cost savings
Nedbank, South Africas fourth-largest bank, has agreed to buy the 50 percent of Old Mutual Bank it does not already own from UK-based life insurance and financial services group Old Mutual, for ZAR140 million ($20.95 million) In a statement, Nedbank said Old Mutual Bank, a joint venture set up by Nedbank and Old Mutual in 2003, will be fully integrated and will trade as Nedbank in future
BofA resurrects BankAmericard
Unlike the original card, the new Bank-Americard incorporates a loyalty scheme designed to reward customers who have at least one other BofA product, such as a personal loan or current account.The card, which has no annual fee, offers 1.25 points for each $1 spent and an annual bonus of 0.25 points for every $1 charged to the card, providing the customer keeps at least one other BofA account
Scotiabank is aiming high
Scotiabank is aiming high Scotiabank has announced plans for international expansion, particularly in Mexico where it aims to establish a consumer finance business and wants to nearly double its branch network in the next three years Scotiabank, Canadas third-largest bank by assets, has said that it will open 100 new branches in the buoyant Mexican market next year, adding to its nearly 550 existing branches
BCR plans to remain number one
Erste Banks Romanian subsidiary, Banca Comerciala Romana, has rebranded itself as it looks to dominate the fast-developing Romanian retail banking market Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), Romanias largest bank, is to hit the fast-developing Romanian retail banking market with a blitz of branches, ATMs, adverts and new products as it looks to not only maintain its lead in the country but also take the Romanian market to a higher level of competition
Channel surfing
Temenos, one the leading fintech players, announced last month it had formed a partnership with UK m-banking specialist FE-Mobile in an effort to capitalise on the growing demand for m-banking products RBI talks to Mark Gunning, group strategy director, and Barrie Neill, a retail banking specialist, at Temenos. Mobile phone banking (m-banking) functional, transactional banking via a mobile handset became a mainstream distribution channel in 2007
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Misys banks on SAP to improve business
Misys, the diversified UK IT specialist which announced a major five-year plan in March this year to turn around its sagging business, has announced an ambitious alliance with Germanys SAP to deliver integrated solutions for the global banking industry.In a statement, Mike Lawrie, Misyss CEO, said: A key part of our strategy is developing winning partnerships, and this is a powerful combination that brings together best-of-class solutions to build an offering that is unique in the marketplace
News briefs
Polands Bank BPH plans to almost triple the size of its retail network to 500 branches after its sale to General Electrics financial arm, GE Money, BPH chief executive Jozef Wancer was quoted as saying by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper
Canada’s TD jumps at Commerce Bank deal
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadas second-largest banking group, has snapped up one of the USs fastest-growing retail banking franchises, Commerce Bank, in a 75 percent stock and 25 percent cash transaction valued at $8.5 billion
Three-year plan for Norway’s leader
DnB NOR (DnB), Norways largest financial services group, is aiming to grow its pre-tax profits by an average annual rate of 10 percent between 2006 and 2010 and deliver a cost-income ratio of 46 percent (its previous target was 50 percent) by 2010.A 10 percent annual increase in pre-tax profits would result in a profit of NOK20 billion ($3.7 billion) in 2010, up from NOK14.1 billion in 2006
CitiFinancial India powers ahead
CitiFinancial India powers ahead The Indian arm of CitiFinancial, Citis consumer finance division, has enjoyed a remarkable couple of years, in which it gained more than 1.5 million new accounts, opened one new branch every two working days in 2006 increasing its network to 450 branches and grew its insurance income by more than 100 percent.