Nanda Kumar CEO at SunTec Business Solutions
The catastrophic global recession of 2008 sent ripples through the banking sector. Many banks struggled to cope with massive losses suffered because of debt they accrued through somewhat risky investments. Banks, like the Lehman Brothers, went under and others are only now starting to recover by taking the same risks but in a less haphazard way. T...
14 December 2015 /regulation /retail
If the past few years have taught the world anything, it is that no business is safe online. Cyber criminals are targeting financial services organisations and this battle will rage on until security experts have found a way to stop the flow of new exploits and vulnerabilities. Recently, some of the world’s biggest telecoms, financial services an...
17 November 2015 /security /retail
The banks in the UK are going through a time of change, not only financially but also regulatory. George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced a bill two years ago which states by January 1st 2019 banks must have ringfenced their operations. The concept of ringfencing, which isn’t a new one, suggests banking services dedicated to r...
29 September 2015 /regulation
The era of ‘free for all’ banking may soon be over. Already under threat, its demise is accelerating as the inherent unfairness of ‘free banking’ becomes more apparent, forcing an avalanche of change in banking IT. The recent PwC report “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” labels free bank accounts as “unsustainable”. Putting free banking up for...
17 March 2015 /retail /wholesale
One of the great joys of my role is to spend quality time with the executive teams from the world’s top banks. Hearing directly from them what is propelling them out of bed in the morning and what is keeping them awake at night is how we learn to deliver better value for them. While better customer service and the chance to win market share is the...
13 October 2014 /regulation
George Osborne’s announcement that the Government is to explore the regulation of Bitcoins will have had an ominous ring to it for those attracted to the virtual currency precisely because it is not currently covered by any regulation. For the rest of us, however, the announcement should be welcomed. Osborne’s focus on the UK financial services se...
04 September 2014 /payments
What the regulation of payday loans means for retail banking. The FCA's announcement of tougher regulations for payday lenders in the UK has already split opinion. Whether a welcome protection for the financially vulnerable, or a sure-fire way to drive them into the arms of even less scrupulous operators beyond the reach of the regulator, the deba...
12 August 2014 /regulation /retail
That’s the future, if Tesco has any say in the matter. Just a couple of weeks after Facebook announced that it is to offer payments in Europe, banks in the UK now face war on two fronts, in the battle for their customers’ personal finances. They now face the prospect of being assailed by highly agile, customer-centric tech firms on one hand, and t...
27 June 2014 /retail
Recent news that Isis, the US telco-based mobile payments platform, is growing at a rate of 20,000 users a day, was welcomed as validation by the cheerleaders of mobile banking. For the rest of us – those of us who just want to see more customer-friendly financial services by whatever means works best – the Isis news merely confirmed that mobile p...
27 May 2014 /retail
The recent news that Facebook is close to gaining a banking license in Europe is an interesting development, and potentially quite a frightening one for the established banks. No longer will banks be able to complain that e-money technology vendors are cutting costs by way of their freedom from proper regulatory scrutiny. Now, Facebook will be pla...
15 May 2014 /payments
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