278 Results from 2008, /retail
Retired Member
It's an interesting dilemma for an organisation like LloydsTSB. They need to be quite bullish about the benefits to be derived from the takeover of HBOS (if they are to convince people to support it) whilst trying to minimise the PR damage that will result from owning up to large job losses. On the other hand, how can those trying to decide on th...
05 November 2008 /retail Transaction Banking
Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra
The economic downturn may lead to a surprise revival of interest and investment in branch banking, as consumers seek out personal advice and a shoulder to cry on in a recessionary climate. Seventy per cent of Lloyds TSB branch managers across the UK say that they have seen an increase in the number of customers coming through their doors to discuss...
04 November 2008 /retail Finance 2.0
The opportunity exists in the next 3 months for a significant shift in power in the corporate world. Shareholders large and small have a unique opportunity to exercise a degree of control over the companies they - not the management - own, especially with regard to four of the UK's largest banks. I think they should collectively send a series of ...
04 November 2008 /retail Transaction Banking
Nick Ogden Chairman at Ogden Research
I was in Reykjavik, Iceland on the Monday when the Icelandic economy meltdown occurred. By co-incidence I was also on Wall Street when the 1997 crash happened and being in both locations was, I promise, purely co-incidental. In 1997 I was with professional investors, where $400m loss hurt but they didn’t die. In 2008 in Reykjavik the only experien...
03 November 2008 /payments /retail Innovation in Financial Services
Matt White North America editor at Finextra
The FT reports the launch of a new Mastercard credit card in oil and mineral rich Kazakhstan. Big deal, you may say, but this is no ordinary piece of plastic - it's inlaid with a 0.02 carat diamond and laced with gold. To be issued by Kazkommertsbank, the card has a $1000 annual fee and $50,000 credit limit. Predictably, the FT points out the inco...
03 November 2008 /retail Whatever...
I have to say that ING Direct appears to been listening to the customer on the call centre issue. In a letter to account holders the CEO offers thanks to customers for their confidence in turbulent times. I like that. ING CEO Eric Drok then reminds customers that their deposits are guaranteed by the government (in OZ and I assume the parent by the...
The Australian government has been threatening to make it easier for customers to switch banks and have announced their solution goes live today. I don't know about the timing, seeing nearly everyone has done a runner and switched their money to mainly Commbank, Westpac and National for some reason, that is except those thousands with their funds ...
01 November 2008 /retail Whatever...
Elton Cane Digital product delivery at News Corp Australia
It's not often that you see a full breakdown of exactly how much money a bank has spent on different projects within its overall IT budget. At least not in the public domain. But at Westpac's earnings announcement yesterday, CEO Gail Kelly picked the bank's technology operation as its most notable "low light" during their financial year....
31 October 2008 /regulation /retail Finextra50 fintech index
Gary Wright Analyst at BISS Research
The announcement that BP's third quarter profits have exceeded £6billion has to be a worry for governments and just about everyone on the planet. In these times of economic worry and with the financial markets in turmoil such figures have to be embarrassment for the board of BP. In turn all the other oil companies are likely to show similar impres...
30 October 2008 /retail MiFID
Alex Noble Account Director at McAfee
This blog sometimes flirts with the idea of news, rather than just comment, and I couldn't resist this story. I saw it today in the Scotsman (though it's also more detail here in the Daily Mail). In brief a Mr. George Bates, a 23 year old Abbey National customer, phoned his bank to arrange an overdraft. He claims to have found that the operator...
30 October 2008 /retail
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