Last night the news emerged that the US Government intends to somehow remove bad loans from Banks balance sheets, in what sounded like a bailout.  Thought I’d give it a bit before wading in.  Lots of hyperbole out there caught up in the stock market jump, that is cloaking the real story here.  We also have the Republican Presidential candidate noting that the focus is wrong here.  Thats for the political blogs. McCain criticises bank assistance | BBC US Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said he is against the state bailing out struggling banks and financial companies. Mr McCain … Continue reading A brief review of the last 18 months in Banking, and what it means

Many of us complain about Microsoft, but this Arrington post at TechCrunch caught my attention because it highlighted larger picture of the environment of the company that appears not to see the competitive forces surrounding them. Microsoft Annual Report To sustain the growth of our Server and Tools business amid competition from other vendors of both proprietary and open source software, our goal is to deliver products that provide the best platform for network computing – software that is easiest to deploy and manage, and that is most secure – with the lowest total cost of ownership. # of mentions: … Continue reading Is your Bank properly aligned to the new competitive threats | Case Study – Microsoft

The Economist has a few articles including this one that is an excellent primer on Islamic finance. The whys and wherefores of Islamic finance THE modern history of Islamic finance is often dated to the 1970s, with the launch of Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But its roots stretch back 14 centuries. Islamic finance rests on the application of Islamic law, or sharia, whose primary sources are the Koran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Sharia emphasises justice and partnership. In the world of finance that translates into a ban on speculation (or gharar) … Continue reading Faith-based finance; intro to Islamic Sharia Finance | The Economist

What an good example of responsiveness and openness from Google’s legal counsel.  Chrome is their new browser that was released 2nd Sept, and here on 4th Sept they are updating the terms of service in response to users. The Official Google Blog Whenever we release a product in beta as we just did with Google Chrome, we can always count on our users to come up with ways to improve it. This week’s example: several eagle-eyed users and bloggers have expressed concern that Section 11 of Google Chrome’s terms of service attempts to give us rights to any user-generated content … Continue reading Google’s legal counsel exhibit good internet practice and responsiveness

Internet has flattened old hierarchies, made information freely available, and eliminated distance. This is a revolutionary driver of customer expectations, and customer buying methods. It has also had the impact of opening previously closed kimono’s and exposed old style advertising for what it is … management of peoples opinions. Internet has allowed people to form their own opinions, and act on them.  That empowerment is fundamental to many changes we see now. One market driver is therefore ‘customer empowerment’. Another driver, comes from the way customers are continually required to manage their own affairs, at the ATM, the pin pad, … Continue reading The power of internet, and drivers of change

James has a good post on the shift from traditional PR to Community Management, and he explains that mechanics quite well. His example of Debbie at Wesabe is an ideal one. BankerVision: PR shifts to Community Management One final question is in my mind, though, is what use HSBC’s or Citi’s Community Outreach Coordinator will make of a competitive bank’s blogger like myself? Will they just ignore me, or take a leap of faith and realise that the community is powerful regardless of who is in it? Relevance to Bankwatch:His final paragraph says it all. With the lone exception of … Continue reading Where are Banks in Community Management?

Took another look at Commonwealth CU site, Young and Free Alberta. [hat tip azaroff.com] This is a highly novel and fresh approach top finding and retaining new customers. It is novel because they have managed to integrate the bank account with what is primarily the social site. The site and the products are built around people starting in financial life, and includes credit cards and student cards designed for them. Young & Free Account If you are between 17 and 25 years of age, you qualify! No fine print; no exceptions. Fill out the form below and we’ll contact you … Continue reading Young and Free Alberta | Commonwealth CU

The largest Credit Unions in the United States, by Assets and membership. The top 50 U.S. Credit Unions In total assets, these top 50 credit unions account for $219 billion of the $805 billion in U.S. credit unions. In members, the top 50 account for 18 million of the 89 million memberships. Here are the top three for each category. Top 50 by Assets Navy Federal Credit Union, Merrifield, VA. $35.3 billion in assets. State Employees Credit Union, Raleigh, NC. $15.9 billion in assets. Pentagon Federal Credit Unio, Alexandria, VA. $11.9 billion in assets. Top 50 by Membership Navy Federal … Continue reading America’s largest Credit Unions

Well stated conclusion on this study of US Bank brands. This particular quote resonates: Banks currently define themselves and their brand in terms of commodity products and expect customers to switch banks so that they can have “all the things they currently get from their current bank.” The piece is full of memorable quotes, and goes on to say What banks need is a new brand promise, one that is a reflection of who the target audience is when they use that bank and is positioned against the competition. The problem now is that the players in the market say … Continue reading “Banks define themselves in terms of commodity products” | stealingshare.com