All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
The new face of marketing
RBC Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Toronto-Dominion (TD), ranked one and two respectively in Canada in terms of assets, have rolled out online marketing initiatives to target the student and youth sectors of the Canadian market by way of blogs and sponsored pages within the social networking site Facebook.com, the second-largest such site in the world.TD has started a branded user group called TD Money Lounge, designed as a forum for students to talk about financial management and budgeting strategies
A&L ends overdraft interest
A&L ends overdraft interest The UKs ninth-largest bank, Alliance & Leicester, is replacing interest charges on overdrafts with a daily fee for customers who go overdrawn The move is part of an overhaul of its fee structure as it seeks to maintain its growing share of the valuable UK current account market
Mashreq’s new brand promise pays off
Douglas Blakey talks to Nabeel Malik, marketing director of retail banking at Dubai-based Mashreq, about the banks branding strategy at a time when the United Arab Emirates market is consolidating and becoming more competitive Since its formation as Bank of Oman in 1967, Mashreqbank it changed its name in 1991 has grown to become the largest privately owned bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Second half of 2007 to be tough as subprime mortgage crisis deepens
JPMorgan Chase, for instance, the USs third-largest banking group, increased its provision for losses by 100 percent to $2.1 billion.But it is the severe downturn at Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage player in the US, that has been most critical.Countrywide, whose share price has fallen 50 percent since the start of the year, issued a plea for calm on 17 August to its banking customers to prevent a bank run queues had been forming outside branches of its $107-billion-asset Countrywide Bank subsidiary as depositors fretted over their savings
Strong interims despite credit concerns
Major banking groups in Europe and the US have reported a strong first half of the year In the US, despite growing concerns over the subprime mortgage fallout, the pressure on retail banking profits has largely been countered by bullish investment banking markets but how long will it last
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Keeping the lead in the Czech Republic
Following seven years of profound change and growth, esk Spoitelna, the Czech subsidiary of Austrias Erste Bank, has become the largest retail bank in the Czech Republic
News digest
RBS targets overdrawn current account holders… La Caixa takes Fortiss 50% stake in CaiFor…
Vietnam continues to interest
HSBC has received approval from the State Bank of Vietnam to increase its stake in VietnamTechnological and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Techcombank) from 10 percent to 15 percent for a total consideration of VND539.4 billion ($33.7 million) The deal caps a month of busy interest in the developing Asian economy: Australias ANZ has also bought into the country, buying a 10 percent stake in local institutional brokerage SaigonSecurities, while South Koreas Shinhan has hinted it may take a stake in state-controlled Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).
NAB turning it around
National Australia Bank maintains that its efforts to restructure its flagging UK division, which started in 2005 with the £967 million sale to Denmarks Danske Bank of two underperforming banks, is on track National Australia Bank (NAB), Australias largest banking group by assets, remains upbeat about the prospects of its UK subsidiaries it acquired Scotlands Clydesdale Bank and Englands Yorkshire Bank in 1987 and 1990, respectively
Spreading the word
In the UK, the Spanish group has used its sponsorship of the McLaren Formula 1 team to boost its brand association with its UK subsidiary, Abbey