Huntington are the latest to come out with an online only, high rate savings account.  This field is no getting flooded.  It will be required as a defensive mechanism by most US Banks. The strategy here is to siphon money from the customers ‘home bank’ (their term) and get funds transferred to the Huntington high rate savings account. High yield savings account rate: 5.30%* APY $1,000 minimum opening balance No minimum balance fee when your balance is $1,000 or more Account availability for approved accounts within one hour (weekdays, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET and weekends, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET) … Continue reading DirectHuntington – but opportunity to experiment is missed

 Oz points out something that I have never heard of, but makes eminent sense.  In Canada people complain about Bank fees all the time.  Wait till the local politicians get a hold of this one.  There has been a barrage of complaints about ATM surcharging lately and seeing this just confirms to me that banks and fees are in trouble. This is driven by UK law that fees and charges must be no more than actual cost of the activity being undertaken. Source: Bank Fees and Charges « Risk Management in Australia   Technorati tags: profitability, bank+fees Continue reading Bank fees cannot exceed the underlying cost – its the law

 What a brilliant quote to make business point amongst those who probably all follow Jack anyway.  The IRR argument vs Multiples accompanies the quote, by the way. I assure you that Jack Bauer does not worry about the IRR of his kills !!He’s only focused on the multiple. Source: Ask The VC – Do IRR’s Matter? Perhaps we are too lazy to try and figure this out, but after decades of effort, the only method that seems to work in the venture world is to target 10x on each early stage deal (3-5x on later stage plays).   Technorati tags: … Continue reading Jack Bauer – Do IRR’s Matter?

Bank fees will always be under pressure, particularly under times of political instability, such as the run up to elections in UK, or in times of economic downturns.  Banks are “mugging” their own customers by levying illegal penalty charges, a senior Liberal Democrat MP has said. Source: ePolitix.com – Banks performing ‘biggest robbery in Britain   Technorati tags: bank+fees, politics Continue reading ePolitix.com – Banks performing ‘biggest robbery in Britain’

This report from Bank Systems has some good data on account opening costs.  We’re now reaching the point where [online account-opening] solutions are no longer simply nice to have,” according to Aite analyst Eva Weber, author of the report. “They are part of what customers expect from their providers.” Weber notes that online account opening is compatible with both customer needs and institutional strategies, such as increasing automation to improve speed of service and reduce costs. Source: Bank Systems & Technology : Opening Up: Banks Expand Customer Reach With Online Account Opening I am always suspicious of channel costs after … Continue reading Online account opening becomes table stakes

 This is speculation in the New York Times, but this would be huge, and create enormous scale.  Barclays have the worldwide coverage in 60 countries, and BofA have a large footprint in the US.  Barclays just purchased a 40,000 employee Bank in South Africa for example. Bank of America is likely to bid for Barclays, the No. 3 bank in the United Kingdom, to further its international expansion strategy, a Merrill Lynch analyst said in a research report Friday. The analyst called Barclays the perfect fit for Bank of America, and suggested that the United States-based bank could pay a … Continue reading Bank of America May Buy Barclays | New York Times