Social Lending

Zopa enters US market with Credit Union partners

Colin Henderson

A real coup for Credit Unions here, and I am impressed and not surprised to see FORUM involved.  Zopa going live with Credit Unions as partners “The merging of financial services and social networking is a great way to reach the younger generation,” says Doug True, senior vice president of FORUM Credit Union of Fishers, Ind., one of Zopa’s launch partners. Having said that, I will need more detail before I understand the model being implemented, that appears to involve CD’s at the Credit Unions.  I hope there is a simpler explanation that that provided at the WSJ. Lenders, meanwhile, … Continue reading Zopa enters US market with Credit Union partners

Social Lending

Prosper Days | Feb 2008

Colin Henderson

Social Lending displays aspects beyond the specifics of the business model.  Prosper is a good example in their display of account metrics, and in their annual conference.  Jim from NetBanker is on a panel this year, and its great to see bloggers pulled in.  Jim is an advocate for Banks’ to try new things, and having him at Prosper Days is a great add. “Prosper Days” User Conference Videos Repurposed to Educate Customers (NetBanker) The conference is an excellent idea, creating a buzz around the company and providing a platform for its most loyal customers to share success stories and … Continue reading Prosper Days | Feb 2008

Uncategorized1 Comment

SalesForce.com make a major coup in banking, with CitiGroup deal

Colin Henderson

SalesForce.com make a major coup in banking, with this CitiGroup contract.  Siebel (Oracle) must really feel this, above the rest.  When we see SalesForce, with their web based, collaborative and frankly simpler application, making inroads like this, its an indication of industry changing moves.  Finextra: Salesforce.com reports Citigroup deal He said Citibank selected the Salesforce.com technology over every other major CRM package, including those offered by Oracle, SAP and Microsoft. The bank will become the vendor’s fifth largest customer with more than 25,000 subscribers. The vendor’s other big clients include US investment bank Merrill Lynch which earlier this year ordered … Continue reading SalesForce.com make a major coup in banking, with CitiGroup deal

Uncategorized4 Comments

Canadian Banks write off $2.1Bn in US Sub Prime mortgages

Colin Henderson

So we have all the main expected players having reported in Canada now, with a projection on National Bank. As predicted it exceeds $2bn. There has been nothing like this since in size since the 80’s real estate losses, which were driven by high interest rates. This situation in 2007, however is driven purely by bad lending practices, and risk assessment. RBC $ 360M CIBC $ 753M (includes write down from 2nd Qtr) BMO $ 320M BNS $ 190M National $ 500M (projected) $2,123M Other significant losses include the Natural gas commodity speculation $700M (BMO). Note the Banks are able … Continue reading Canadian Banks write off $2.1Bn in US Sub Prime mortgages

AI

KeyPoint CU introduces account access via Facebook

Colin Henderson

In what I believe is a first, KeyPoint Credit Union, based in Silicon Valley introduces a new mobile service via FaceBook.  In effect, this uses FB as a single sign on vehicle. Finextra: KeyPoint CU introduces account access via Facebook KeyPoint CU – which serves technology companies including Apple and Google – is the first financial institution to launch account access via Facebook. The application provides customers with secure, one-click access to online bank account information. The CU says all account information data is encrypted with a minimum of 128 bits and no user data is stored on the Facebook … Continue reading KeyPoint CU introduces account access via Facebook

AI1 Comment

Billeo raises an additional $7M | electronic wallet capabilities

Colin Henderson

A while back I blogged about Billeo, and was impressed.  At that time, I went off on a bit of a tangent, but I remain of the view that someone independent such as Billeo, with the right smarts, can carve off a capability that Banks cannot, because of their single Bank proprietary view. Note they have a online shopping assistant and a password assistant, as part of their feature set now.  This is beginning to look more and more like an electronic wallet … one to watch. http://www.billeo.com SANTA CLARA, Calif. – November 14, 2007 – Billeo, Inc. today announced … Continue reading Billeo raises an additional $7M | electronic wallet capabilities

Web/Tech1 Comment

Part of the reason to get rid of the CIO title was …. customer | JP Rangaswami, BT

Colin Henderson

Fascinating interview from the thoughtful JP, now Managing Director, Design (was CIO) at British Telecom.  Note, BT has 150,000 employees worldwide.  This wide ranging interview speaks about converting BT to a platform based. networked company.  This is no different than a Bank, when you consider the multiple branch nodes, thousands or tens of thousands of employees, and billions of transactions annually.  Watch for start ups to figure this out too.  The CTO role gets in the way of effective customer experience design. » CIO BT Design: JP Rangaswami – Transcript | CIO Sessions Vision Series on ZDNet.com Dan Farber: Now you’ve been … Continue reading Part of the reason to get rid of the CIO title was …. customer | JP Rangaswami, BT

Security1 Comment

US Department of Defense sponsors Open Source conference

Colin Henderson

Note for all Bank CTO’s – US DoD are looking carefully at Open Source with suggestions that they are already using it.  Matt’s comments are illuminating for Banks. U.S. Department of Defense announces open-source conference | The Open Road – The Business and Politics of Open Source by Matt Asay – CNET Blogs It should be fascinating to see how much open source is being used in the world’s most finicky IT buyer. If open source can meet the performance and security demands of the U.S. Department of Defense, surely it can enable more pedestrian uses of technology…like selling widgets … Continue reading US Department of Defense sponsors Open Source conference

Profitability2 Comments

Canadian Banks write off $1.2 Bn … so far – [33% default rate]

Colin Henderson

RBC announce $0.4Bn charge related to sub prime, bringing the Canadian total to $1.2 Bn so far.  The astounding statistic here is that the RBC charge relates to 33% of their outstanding in that sector.  What kind of risk assessment was done on an investment made within the last 2 years that produces 33%+ default rates?  And using Canadian depositors money no less.   I could comment on the less than 3% default rate at Prosper, but no, I won’t go there … today. reportonbusiness.com: RBC to take $360-million charge amid credit crunch The subprime writedown, which amounts to about … Continue reading Canadian Banks write off $1.2 Bn … so far – [33% default rate]

Social Lending1 Comment

Prosper trends towards average borrowers, and sets itself up for stepped up growth

Colin Henderson

The trends within Prosper are interesting since the sub-prime crisis hit.  Two things stand out that show promise to bear out earlier predictions: trend of regular borrowers towards using Prosper, who would otherwise have used traditional lenders, and these lenders are Prime or Near Prime [Prosper designations] borrowers seeking to pay off credit card debt;  typical retrenchment behaviour,  during rough times, but these borrowers are using Prosper, not Banks. Media Room – Prosper Of great interest is the anecdotal evidence of prime and near prime borrowers turning to Prosper for loans that would have historically been steered toward mortgage, auto, … Continue reading Prosper trends towards average borrowers, and sets itself up for stepped up growth