The Finanser’s Week: 14th October – 20th October 2013

Our biggest
stories of the past week are ... 

Why VideoBank is the way

I've talked about
videobanking for over a decade and then got this infographic and video from
iStock today. Fantastic! Note: there are some videobanks out there!

Banking in 2013 ... just like 1913

So I’m buying a
house and have a conversation about the house buying process with a bank
colleague. He is adamant that this is where the branch comes into its own. I
disagreed, but accepted that it may be different...

Talk about customers, not channels

Continuing on
yesterday’s theme, I’ve written often about the fact that I do not believe in a
multichannel or omnichannel strategy, just a strategy of how to deliver
augmented service to the customer at the point of relevance. For me,...

This bank branch is dead ... no it's not! It's, uh,
resting …

I’ve recently seen
so many articles about branches and branch closures that it’s worth a blog
post, just to keep up with the issue. The first thing that came out was the
recent European Central Bank (ECB) data detailing bank...

SEPA end-dates: the challenges of compliance

Open an industry
publication these days and you will find articles, reports and comments
lamenting the "SEPA end-date" of February 2014. In just a few months'
time massive changes will take place in the payments industry in Europe,
impacting banks,...

  
The major general
news stories of the past week include ...

Barclays
Was 'Most Complained About Bank' In Early 2013 - Huffington Post
Barclays has attracted the most consumer complaints in the first half of this
year, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

Bank
boss's break shows stress needs to be taken seriously - The Telegraph
Sir Hector Sants, Barclays' head of global compliance, has taken a leave of
absence from the bank after being diagnosed with "exhaustion and
stress".        

Lloyds
CEO warns against housing "Help to Buy" bubble: FT - Reuters
(Reuters) - The chief executive of Lloyds Bank has warned that the government's
"Help to Buy" mortgage scheme will risk creating a dangerous bubble
in property prices unless steps are taken to boost the supply of new housing
and free up planning restrictions, The Financial Times reported.

Bank
overdrafts 'as expensive as payday loans' - The Telegraph
Using a bank overdraft can be as expensive as using a payday lenders, says
consumer group.

Never
mind the bank of mum and dad: Grandparents now paying £647million a year to
subsidise needy grandchildren - Daily Mail
Forget the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' - grandparents are subsidising their
grandchildren to the tune of more than half a billion pounds a year, according
to a new study. Researchers found a fifth of grandparents in England aged 50 or
over give money to their grandchildren, and the figure totalled £647 million in
2010.

Osborne
aims to make London renminbi hub - The Telegraph
London has cemented its reputation as the global capital of finance by striking
a groundbreaking deal with Beijing that promises to make the City the world's
biggest renminbi trading hub outside of China.        

Musings
on Money2020 - Payments Views
In a post titled "Money2020: Impressions & Observations",
Glenbrook's Erin McCune shares her thoughts and insights from last week's
Money2020 conference in Las Vegas - and she places a bet on "real-time,
good funds push payments" in the US within five years.

Bank
nearly banned new £5 note with Churchill on it in case it upset the Germans
- Daily Mail
Bank of England bosses thought twice about putting Sir Winston Churchill on the
new £5 note – because they didn’t want to upset the Germans.

Five
ways to rob a bank using the internet - New Scientist
This year a bank robber stole £1.3 million without touching a penny. Today's
master criminals are swapping shotguns for software – here's how they do it

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