too funny. I can picture all stages of this process. Especially the very polite but misunderstanding CSR folk.
03 Oct 2011 22:18 Read comment
Why is it a hoax? He is what he says he is - an independent trader. Its just his opinion and perhaps he was a lot less guarded than an institutional one. Its long been said that traders don't care which way the market goes, just so long and they know which way it heading, because then they can make trades with profit. But can the stock markets collapse? What would replace it? Someone will always buy into a bargain to keep it alive, won't they?
28 Sep 2011 12:47 Read comment
Buy or Sell, there are fees involved and someone turns some money. The financial sector has been trading like crazy for 20 years and the money got paid out into the pockets of the establishment players, including GSachs. Now the valuations of assets have been slashed and the real money is no longer there. Its gone to fund their houses, cars, yachts, consumer goods. Sour grapes, I wasn't part of it, but I sure as hell am paying the price now, and it doesn't look to me like the banks are hurting at all. Profits are good, their risk is less, yield must be better because of the premium on lending and the beneficial low bank interest rates. I'd say the banks are loving it now and in a position of power?
28 Sep 2011 12:04 Read comment
Personally, I really like the 'live-chat' options some banks offer. This gets me through to a real person who has the time to think before answering my query, and I get a log of what I was told too. I can do this while I carry on with my day job without having to set aside 20 minutes to work through a call centre.
At first I thought you were suggesting that banks deliberately made it hard for customers to complain! That certainly seems to be a Ryan Air approach. Lets face it, we increasingly have to navigate 0870 priced numbers, IVR system that loop round themselves, CSR agents based 1000's of miles away, and each step is a barrier to bothering to complain.
Ideally, these complaint channels simply need to be converged at the outset. There is no point is setting up a silo'd complaints channel and then one system not knowing that you raised an issue on another.... it comes down to an integrated CRM system.
All a Twitter response really needs to do is respond with the web URL where the customer can interact. Half the problem is finding that start point.
28 Sep 2011 10:50 Read comment
The public has always viewed bank robbing with rose tinted spectacles - they think it is robbing the rich for the poor etc. They forget the reality that this is all our money and banks are just supposed to guard it. Now the target is us all, individually, and so we are much less flippant about that. So in defence, the Social Network can fight back against the Anti-Social network, keeping us all warned about new scams doing the rounds, friends that had issues, what not to do etc. Banks should be able to leverage that channel too.
23 Sep 2011 09:47 Read comment
Killian, I like this clear blog. But you don't mention the Mobile Operators who are similarly scrambling to establish their position in the mobile payments value chain. Some are collaborating to set regional (or global) wallet standards and many are cooperating with those Card Payments companies you mention - notably Orange/Barclaycard/Quicktap.
NFC is still the domain of the POS terminal owners (Banks/Card companies) - replacing millions of those things takes time and investment. PayPal have their ideas about competing in the retail outlet, but my guess is it will take ages and adoption will take time.
When Google moves (Google Wallet) then everyone sits up, but this also has a long way to evolve - it'll still be a long time before you leave your physical wallet at home until more cards can be virtualised.
I think the Banks lack of innovation stems from the long issue of dominance and the high barrier to entry to change that. They still believe the castle is secure and can defend it. Until someone decides to simply walk around them and take over the landscape instead.
23 Sep 2011 09:28 Read comment
Yes. Saying paper cheques/checks are archaic is no different to saying paper money is old fashioned. Cheques have been around for, well forever. And who needs to send letters when we have email?
Mobile Money or Premium SMS would be my bet to 'slowly' replace cheques. Get the Y generation texting their subscriptions, donations, payments and soon there is no need for writing and posting cheques. But that's not going to happen is it. There is something irreplaceable about a physical token that you can see and touch, that you sign, and that gets filed somewhere (these days scanned).
23 Sep 2011 09:07 Read comment
Agree and in favour of mobile banking - its been around for over a decade in one form or another.
The challenge with iPads and Smartphones is exactly that they are just like a PC, but they are not a PC. There are unknowns around keyboard logging, viruses, rogue apps or security loopholes, and it is these uncertainties that prevent the banks from putting a firm tick in the box and supporting them. In short, I don't agree that mobile device malware in not a problem.
Let's assume a browser on a smart phone is fundamentally the same as one on a PC. The security (encryption) on the session is the same. But the ability for something else on the mobile device (IOS, Android, Windows...) to be sitting there logging activity is greater, because there is not the proliferation of trusted security software for those devices. I am very sceptical about some of the top Android security apps simply because they require root access, access to everything on my device and are based in foreign countries. Who knows what data they would be farming from my device.
So what about an on-device approach (custom banking App). Now I have some some of these, and they are great. As a retail bank customer its the best and fastest way for me to check my account. Once I have securely set up my App, the credentials are encrypted and only the App connects to the banks servers. I am happy that this approach is secure and its very convenient for me - I just sign-on to the App and am happy that no resident (or remote) code could do the same. Add a visual verification image and it would be even safer. The device checks you mention are also perfectly sensible.
What do others think? I am only talking (and experienced) about retail bank access and you are talking Investment Banking which is more to do with corporate/employee access.
23 Sep 2011 08:58 Read comment
I don't think you can fire an anonymous employee, Robert :)
The reality is that the world moved away from paper statements, so there is no longer a trigger to scan those transactions. Its all online now. Most folks have several different cards as well. I don't think it is as common as you think that people set aside time to login to each to check those transactions - they will (like me) do it from time to time when they happen to be logged in. They care about the overall balance outstanding and therefore only large transactions influence that and draw attention. Coupled with the vague and misleading merchant names and lack of descriptions, its a poor system.
I agree that configurable SMS notifications of any transaction is a great idea.
I am not ducking that we are personally responsible, but when 99.9% (hopefully more) of txns are genuine, who can blaim the consumer for getting lazy in monitoring it - its a fact.
21 Sep 2011 11:58 Read comment
We need to use the term 'rogue bankers' more often. Everyone, but everyone has simply borrowed and borrowed and the banks lent the money they didn't have, and took commissions every step of the way to line their own accounts, end of. A big hole is created and we are all shovelling cash in to fill it up and keep the banks in business? What happens if we (Governments included, like Greece) stop shovelling and default? Banks fail along with their shareholders/investors. Its a mess and some are hanging on by their fingernails. A new economy/currency looms following great unrest and pain.
Doom mongering seems to be catching.
20 Sep 2011 08:34 Read comment
Welcome to Finextra. We use cookies to help us to deliver our services. You may change your preferences at our Cookie Centre.
Please read our Privacy Policy.