Trends in Financial Services

A community to discuss the future of financial services and any other interesting trends, strategies, ideas, views.

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

No more 'free smiles' as JPMorgan brings back boring banking

Conventional wisdom has it that bank branches should take their cue from modern retail practices. They should be bright and welcoming, preferably open plan with comfy seating and staffed by approachable, friendly sales people. So why is JPMorgan taking a bulldozer to the WaMu Occasio branch concept, a $1 billion branch remodelling exercise that fre...

17 April 2009 /retail

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Too big to fail, or too big to compete?

UK retailer Tesco is not alone in enjoying the benefits of 'safe haven' status as consumers turn away from distressed banks and move their assets to more trustworthy institutions. The UK's Co-operative Bank - which last month posted a 70% rise in underlying profit for 2008 - is reporting a 123% annual increase in customers switching their current a...

08 April 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

What's Wrong with Making a Profit?

Why is it that the EC has such a problem with the card associations over cross-border fees, and interchange generally? What do they think is going to happen when these organisations find that doing business in the EU is simply too unprofitable? Surely, the fact that we have two large (and one smaller) associations competing for business means that...

07 April 2009

Retired Member 

12 Zeroes - Or Was That 20?

What the 20 heads of state at the G20 continually fail to understand is the plight of individuals and how that impacts on how well we will recover from this mess. How could they, as they are all insulated from the real economic world because of their status? What they didn't address is the dire state of individuals' balance sheets, and those of co...

03 April 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

G20 reach agreement - but is it enough?

According to the BBC - and who doesn't follow Peston these days ..... On behalf of the G20, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the following steps: Bankers' pay and bonuses will be subject to stricter controls A new Financial Stability Board will be set up to work with the IMF to ensure co-operation across borders and provide an early warning m...

02 April 2009 /regulation /wholesale

Retired Member 

System Adequacy Identified as Major OTC Operational Issue

65 per cent of firms reference adequacy of existing system as major OTC operational issue As the dust settles on the central counterparty debate the spotlight returns to the internal issue of operational readiness of the middle and back office to process the continued increase in OTC volumes. In research published this week by CityIQ a survey...

01 April 2009 /sibos

John Cant Managing Director at MPI Europe Ltd

Mine detecting bees

Whether it is certain bonuses in financial sector, or league tables and performance stars in the public sector, there have been numerous recent illustrations of the harm that poorly set business targets can cause. It seems deceptively easy in theory to use targets and rewards to drive desired behaviour. Take the mine detecting bees for example. No...

31 March 2009 /regulation /wholesale

Elton Cane Digital product delivery at News Corp Australia

Trust me, I'm an expert ...

It' s a line we seem to fall for far too easily, and this is something that scientists say has contributed to the current financial crisis. Studies suggest that the normal mechanisms people use to evaluate risk and reward are not being used when you have an expert telling you what to do. This is backed up by anecdotal evidence that has emerged abo...

24 March 2009 /wholesale

Retired Member 

Deflation? Cobblers

I suspect that many people are like me in not believing we are in a deflationary situation. It is complete cobblers and should not be influencing economic policy. The principal reason why the RPI is dropping into negative territory is that interest rates have been destroyed in recent months. This allegedly reduces the cost of living, which is rub...

24 March 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

Is Spain plus Brazil more effective than India?

Spain’s star is on the rise in the outsourcing world. Too long in the shadow of India and Eastern Europe as near and offshore solution, Spain is becoming the thinking company’s destination of choice. This is supported by Forrester’s recent research (Spotlight on Spain) which suggests that companies should take another look at Spanish providers. It’...

17 March 2009