sub prime1 Comment

Diebold cuts 800 jobs; warns of trouble ahead

Colin Henderson

This from Finextra …  as we forecast last year, this sub-prime crisis will have far flung effects, that few would have predicted.  Here we have an ATM manufacturer cutting 5% of the workforce. Finextra: Diebold cuts 800 jobs; warns of trouble ahead US ATM manufacturer Diebold is cutting 800 jobs – five per cent of its global workforce – following a disappointing 2007 and amid gloomy forecasts for the coming year as the credit crisis hits bank branch investment budgets. Continue reading Diebold cuts 800 jobs; warns of trouble ahead

Business Models1 Comment

Direct Banks exhibit 20% market penetration

Colin Henderson

This is a fascinating statistic, especially when we see that the income levels of the participants are 50% higher than the average. Net Banks Gain One in Five Internet Households – 02.01.2008 – Bank Technology News Article The survey of 1,032 Internet households found the average age of an direct-banking user is 47.8, with an average income of $99,200 a year – compared to the average online banking user who is 52.1 and earns $60,300 annually Continue reading Direct Banks exhibit 20% market penetration

SEPA1 Comment

Best intentions not always the best | SEPA

Colin Henderson

Dave highlights apparent flaws in the SEPA system.  When you get government involved in commercial systems, the results are not always what you want.  – no internet availability– unbelievably expensive …. I would suggest usury expensive! Digital Money Forum: SEPA update So, in summary, sending 50 euros to Amsterdam in the exciting new world of SEPA took two trips to the bank, cost £15 (ie, a transaction fee of 40%) and took three days. Next time, I’ll use PayPal. Continue reading Best intentions not always the best | SEPA

AI6 Comments

Account alerts are not addressing customer needs

Colin Henderson

Interesting take on mobile alerts. Uptake is relatively small at 24%, and of those almost all are via email. Mobile alerts are almost non-existent. The reason is that the alerts have not addressed what customers actually want, and they resist paying the mobile fees for alerts they don’t want. Time to rethink ‘mobile strategy’ and ‘account alert strategy’ for most Banks. Interest in Text Alerts Waning – 02.01.2008 – Bank Technology News Article What banks can do better at, says Forrester analyst Brad Strothkamp, is to give customers alerts to activities they can’t discover through other channels, such as such … Continue reading Account alerts are not addressing customer needs

subprime

Banks link to solve bond insurers crisis

Colin Henderson

In an ironic twist to the sub prime crisis, the big Banks are grouping together in an attempt to develop a solution for Ambac Financial.  The irony is that the Banks used Ambac to hedge their original risk in the bond market.  I believe the several of the Canadian Banks are also engaged with Ambac. Risk managers at Banks must be pulling their hair out, as new risk elements appear almost daily. FT.com / In depth – Banks link to solve bond insurers crisis The group looking at supporting Ambac includes Citigroup, Wachovia, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, … Continue reading Banks link to solve bond insurers crisis

AI7 Comments

Egg customer anger at credit card cancellations

Colin Henderson

Egg (CitiBank) credit card does a very poor job at cancelling 161K cards.  They provide the reason that peoples credit history has deteriorated, which sounds legitimate but from the litany of quotes on this BBC page, it sounds more like they cancelled people because they were paying off their balance in full, thus making them unprofitable.  However the opposite is true. If the example I note below is anything to go by, this is a major screw up. BBC NEWS | Business | Egg customer anger at credit move Egg says 161,000 cards belonging to people whose credit profiles have … Continue reading Egg customer anger at credit card cancellations

Uncategorized

Wesabe introduces ‘add your bank’ feature

Colin Henderson

I haven’t covered Wesabe for a while.  Tomorrow they release a new feature that allows new customers to add their Bank if its not already in Wesabe. Wheaties for Your Wallet » Blog Archive » New feature: Add your own bank to Wesabe We’ve launched another great new feature tonight: if your bank or credit card isn’t listed as supported in Wesabe, you can add it yourself in under a minute. Why wait months for someone else to decide if they want to help you with your money or not, when you can be up and running in minutes? They … Continue reading Wesabe introduces ‘add your bank’ feature

WEF

Anecdotes that summarise the World Economic Forum

Colin Henderson

Thought these two small stories summarised the WEF well.  It just finished this week in Davos Switzerland.  Incidentally the big story this year was the global economy, and the fallout of the subprime market. BBC NEWS | Business | Davos bosses get a reality check Another Davos newcomer was George Osborne, the UK’s shadow chancellor … … “The strangest moment of the week was when I introduced Tony Blair to Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook,” said Mr Osborne. For Tim Brown, chief executive of design firm Ideo (which helped develop the first mouse for Apple computers and invented the … Continue reading Anecdotes that summarise the World Economic Forum

sub prime

UK Mortgage approvals hit by credit crunch

Colin Henderson

If there remain any doubts about the impact on Bank lending policies outside US, then these stats from UK should put that debate to rest. Mortgage approvals hit by credit crunch – Times Online Only 42,088 mortgages were approved for new buyers by banks in December, lower than at any time since records began in September 1997, figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) showed. Continue reading UK Mortgage approvals hit by credit crunch

Open Source Banking, P2P Lending, Self Service, unbanked1 Comment

How much about the approach to Branchless Banking is driven by incorrect assumptions?

Colin Henderson

Johan picked up on my post about mobile loans, but interestingly pointed to an Economist article in November entitled A bank in every pocket? Mobiles bankieren in die EU. « – was einer so denkt – Bis jetzt hatte ich gedacht, dass das eine afrikanische Tradition wäre. Ich finde das ganz spannend. Translated:Until now, I had thought that this would be an African tradition.  I find this very exciting. I have covered the African mobile phone market, and this article builds on what is happening there.  These “branchless” schemes typically allow customers to deposit and withdraw cash through a mobile … Continue reading How much about the approach to Branchless Banking is driven by incorrect assumptions?