Humour

Apr 20, 2010

Not the most diplomatic poster

Just spotted this poster on the London Underground … … don't think that tour will be too popular right now.

Apr 16, 2010

Come and join the Ryanbank

Going back to the idea that a bank could offer a widget-based business model of functionality and that everything these days is free, makes me realise exactly what tomorrow’s bank will look like. The thought struck me yesterday when I took my brother-in-law’s lad to see Clash of the Titans – more my thing than…

Apr 16, 2010

Mortgage Lending Mantra: “I Like Big Bucks”

Story breaking in the USA this week is all about Washington Mutual (WaMu), the Seattle-based mortgage bank closed down by the FDIC in September 2008 to be taken over by Bank of America. What a difference a year or two makes. In 2006, just two years before their collapse, an employee annual jamboree for the…

Apr 7, 2010

What are banks for?

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break. I know I did. Lots of chocolate, reading, walking and sleep. Eating, drinking, chocolate and chat. TV, driving, thinking and chocolate. Wonderful. During my reading I came across this, first published in the magazine Punch back in April 1957. It’s a classic and worth everyone taking…

Apr 1, 2010

G20 regulations collapse in disharmony

I'm sure you realised this was an April Fool … or was it? The Wall Street Journal reports this week that "U.S. and European governments are moving toward a consensus on taxing large banks to cover the cost of any future bailouts rather than asking taxpayers to foot the bill, as happened regularly in past…

Mar 24, 2010

What is it with the French?

Don’t get me wrong, I love France and most things French, particularly the South of France and the Cote d’Azur, Tourettes-sur-Loop, Bordeaux and Provence. Beautiful. But get me to Paris and my love affair with France always seems to fly out of the window. Take my latest trip, by way of example. First thing that…

Mar 22, 2010

Credit crunch bank robberies

I guess these desperate times cause desperate actions, as the last few weeks must have created the funniest spate of bank robberies ever seen. First, there was the Russian Sumo wrestler who wrestled an ATM out of the wall … March 9th – Total Pro Sports You always wondered why these sumo wrestlers gained all…

Mar 19, 2010

The new marketing segments of 2010

Thinking about millenials, or Gen Y as some call them, reminded me of marketers wonderful ways of coming up with new terms for consumer segments. When I was growing up, it was yuppies – young, upwardly mobile, professionals. These were the new pin-striped generation of City styled workers, who went skiing every year and had…

Mar 16, 2010

The new Lloyds Bank … or is that Lloyd Banks?

I thought that Lloyds Banking Group had suddenly had a change of heart when I got a note offering me a Beamer, Benz or Bentley. Obviously, the lending lines had opened and car loans is their new focus. Then I realised that this is the title of Lloyd Banks debut single … … hmmm, I…

Mar 1, 2010

If the Banks are United, they will never …

Watching the Carling Cup Final yesterday, I noticed a chap who obviously didn't realise that sitting next to England Manager Fabio Coppello would immediately get him noticed … Yes, it's Mervyn King (on the left), Governor of the Bank of England, sitting watching his favourite team Aston Villa lose 2-1 to Man United. Shame. But…