Innovation

Second Life | can it be a test bed for real life?

Colin Henderson

An interesting bit of research on virtual worlds and using them to model the real world.  Real people were using virtual money bought with real money to participate in a banking scenario within Second Life.  The outcome was a banking crisis that could have offerred lessons to the real world. Click through to msnbc for their research and analysis. Second Life bank crash foretold financial crisis | msnbc The end came when panicked investors began withdrawing their virtual money, known as Linden dollars in the game and exchangeable for U.S. dollars at a rate of roughly 250 Linden dollars to … Continue reading Second Life | can it be a test bed for real life?

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How can a bank with over 2 trillion in assets fail?

Colin Henderson

The headlines surrounding Citi are reminiscent of a wolf pack circling its prey. But how can a bank such as them fail? And how can it go from making a billion dollar offer to purchase Wachovia to failure? Citigroup stock drops to 13-year low, fear grow | Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc faced a crisis of confidence on Wednesday as investors questioned the survival prospects of the U.S. banking giant, and its shares tumbled 23 percent to a 13-year low. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets has been reeling on concerns that mounting losses from credit cards, mortgages … Continue reading How can a bank with over 2 trillion in assets fail?

AI

NCR experiments with Microsoft Surface for branches | Finextra

Colin Henderson

While this feels a little bit like a solution chasing a problem, its nice to see some experimentation happening.  In particular the interaction between the customers phone and the employee desktop is interesting.  NCR taps Microsoft Surface technology for branch transactions | Finextra Mark Grossi, VP, advanced development, NCR, says: "NCR knows that our bank customers want faster and easier ways to conduct transactions. This prototype demonstrates how assisted service technology will continue to enhance interactions between banks and their customers." Technorati Tags: NCR,Microsoft,Microsoft Touch Continue reading NCR experiments with Microsoft Surface for branches | Finextra

Innovation1 Comment

Text Mint.com to retrieve account balances

Colin Henderson

Very cool new feature from Mint.  Few banks have done this, and Clairmail offer this service, but with Mint customers can get it for any bank. Text Mint to See if You’ve Been Naughty or Nice Starting today, text BAL or BALANCE to MyMint (696-468) from any checkout line in America and we’ll send you the balances in all of the checking, savings and investment accounts you track in your Mint account.  Just think of it, no more embarrassing “your credit card has been declined” moments. This typifies the disruptive forces at play and during these tough times, I would … Continue reading Text Mint.com to retrieve account balances

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The obvious future has arrived – online banking usage in Canada

Colin Henderson

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

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WorkLight® Inc | helps businesses reach customers seccurely online at iGoogle, Windows Live, desktop widgets, RSS readers, Facebook, Apple iPhone

Colin Henderson

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

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G20 financial market summit has some way to go to make a difference

Colin Henderson

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

AI

“Own the conversation by improving the conversation” | gapingvoid

Colin Henderson

This long (8,000 words) but incredibly worthwhile post from Hugh a few days ago is a classic.  It expounds on the marketing and what it means in todays environment.  I will resist the temptation to call it new marketing or any other buzz word.  Its just a worthwhile read, and essential reading for bankers if they want to get inside the head of new marketing (oops .. I said it) He speaks of the shift from the old way of marketing and why it no longer applies.  There are two core drivers, although one might argue they are related – … Continue reading “Own the conversation by improving the conversation” | gapingvoid

Economy

G20 five-page communiqué | 15th Nov 2008

Colin Henderson

Decleration: Summit on financial markets and the world economy Published: November 16 2008 02:14 | Last updated: November 16 2008 02:14 November 15, 2008, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary 1. We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, held an initial meeting in Washington on November 15, 2008, amid serious challenges to the world economy and financial markets. We are determined to enhance our cooperation and work together to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s financial systems. 2. Over the past months our countries have taken urgent and exceptional measures to support the … Continue reading G20 five-page communiqué | 15th Nov 2008

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The Phoenix Checklist

Colin Henderson

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