Every four years the National Intelligence Council (American) produces a review of the international landscape.  While it is definitely produced with a view to security considerations, its a wonderful glimpse into the global shifts and changes at play.  The four year schedule is long enough to catch the big shifts. Global Trends 2025 National Intelligence Council Despite the recent financial volatility—which could end up accelerating many ongoing trends—we do not believe that we are headed toward a  complete breakdown of the international system, as occurred in 1914-1918 when an earlier phase of globalization came to a halt. However, the next … Continue reading The 2025 Global Landscape

A remarkable achievement from RBC in these times.  Royal Bank profit falls 15% | Globe and Mail But Dundee Securities analyst John Aiken chose to upgrade Royal Bank on the announcement. Technorati Tags: RBC Continue reading RBC gets an investment analyst upgrade – a unique achievement

In true form, Jim posts some excellent observations from BAI. I especially liked the Moneto, BMO, and Tapscott comments – two awesome/ one terrible. Highlights from BAI Retail Delivery 2008 | Netbanker Most audacious business plan: Alt-payment startups Moneta and sister company Acculynk which are looking to disrupt online payments at the point of sale Best demo of something that actually exists: Bank of Montreal’s demo of its new branch locator using Microsoft Virtual Earth (shown at the Microsoft’s booth) Worst financial example during a keynote: Don Tapscott used Zopa USA as an example of a promising new web 2.0 … Continue reading BAI | Netbanker review

A new study from TNS Facts notes the state of the nation for online banking usage in Canada. Using even the worst of those numbers, 49% of Canadians with internet access are active with online banking in the last month (37 /76). Of greater significance is the trendline for telephone banking that has dropped to 32% from a peak of 40% 5 years ago. This reflects newer generations skipping the old assumption of ATM – tel banking – internet that some still believe. There should be no doubt for any banker that their brand and service is now defined by … Continue reading The obvious future has arrived – online banking usage in Canada

Once in a while something is highlighted to me and catches my attention. Worklight is one of those. It offers widgets that allow customers to view their enterprise information, eg banking, securely within igoogle, or portal of choice. I like the concept of bringing information to the customer in their destination of choice, and this is one implementation worth following. If anyone has any experience, please share in the comments. myworklight.com Through WorkLight, people effortlessly get valuable information they desire, such as account status, product availability, or updates about their latest transactions. They can then take actions, for example order … Continue reading WorkLight® Inc | helps businesses reach customers seccurely online at iGoogle, Windows Live, desktop widgets, RSS readers, Facebook, Apple iPhone

The views on the G20 economic summit this weekend are mixed at best. LONDON, (AFP) – Sunday newspapers were largely unconvinced by the G20 summit in Washington, concluding that Prime Minister Gordon Brown does not have all the answers for fixing the financial downturn. One example: Taro Aso, Prime Minister of Japan was careful to retain Japans independence “who would argue that Japan is an individual country?” – in answer to questions about Japan supporting the other economies. Bottom line is that 20 countries can get together and chat, but the real work between now and the next meeting in … Continue reading G20 financial market summit has some way to go to make a difference

I got this from a post on Tara’s blog.  Its attributed to the CIA as a set of problem solving questions that they developed.  A quick search brings up many people who have posted it, and its hard to find the original.  Anyhow its a useful set of questions, broken into two parts. The problem Why is it necessary to solve the problem? What benefits will you receive by solving the problem? What is the unknown? What is it you don’t yet understand? What is the information you have? What isn’t the problem? Is the information sufficient? Or is it … Continue reading The Phoenix Checklist

If the numbers are right here, then the $ 3/4 million saving for 800 employees as a result of switching to Google Apps is true then this is significant.  Serena Dumping Microsoft Exchange for Google Gmail, The Cloud | eweek Serena Software expects to save $750,000 per year by shedding Microsoft Exchange Server in favor of Google’s Gmail application for its 800 employees, officials for the Web development software maker told eWEEK Nov. 12. We posted on this before.  I know from personal experience that working with gmail in a browser is exponentially faster and smoother than Exchange in Outlook.  … Continue reading Google gmail picks up big corporate customer

Bank # 18 is taken over by the FDIC Nov 7th. Failed Bank Information On November 7, 2008, Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX was closed by the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver.  No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed. Technorati Tags: FDIC Continue reading Eighteenth Bank to Close This Year – US