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It was interesting watching the discussions of bank retailers at the USA’s BAI Retail Delivery show. There was little discussion of the credit crisis, the bank bailout or subprime, although this was ever prevalent as a backdrop to the Show, and it was noticeable that major groups such as WaMu, Wachovia, Citi and others were…

After announcing the lay off of 52,000 staff, Citi saw a massive 20 percent drop in share price on Friday alone, a 60 percent drop on the week and a loss of $20 billion so far this year. The result is that it looks like Citigroup has been forced into a decision to split into…

So that’s the end of a week in Orlando in a Mickey Mouse conference. Lots of great stories about the banks that are surviving who all seem to have one thing in common: put the customer at the core of the business, give them a great service experience and focus upon deposits over loans. The…

So that’s the end of a week in Orlando in a Mickey Mouse conference. Lots of great stories about the banks that are surviving who all seem to have one thing in common: put the customer at the core of the business, give them a great service experience and focus upon deposits over loans. The…

At every conference you find a few highlights, and this one is no exception as I attended a plenary keynote yesterday starring Arkadi Kuhlmann, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ING Direct USA. In a few short years, ING Direct has become one of the largest Internet-based banks in America, and has earned a…

At every conference you find a few highlights, and this one is no exception as I attended a plenary keynote yesterday starring Arkadi Kuhlmann, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ING Direct USA. In a few short years, ING Direct has become one of the largest Internet-based banks in America, and has earned a…

Some friends of mine who run the European Finance Convention have lined up a great conference on 8th and 9th December in Brussels, focused upon how Europe will approach resolving the financial crisis.  Speakers include: Joaquin Almunia, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank Didier Reynders, Belgian…

The reason for my excitement yesterday about a new retail bank for Britain is because it’s a new bank, and a bank by Vernon Hill. Vernon Hill is a bit of a legend, as he’s a guy who built a bank, Commerce Bank, from nothing into one of the most successful banks in the USofA….

For quite a while now, I’ve been keeping a secret. The secret is that there is a brand new retail bank being launched in Britain next year. And it’s not an internet bank. It’s not a call centre based bank. It’s not a bank without branches. It’s a brand, new and shiny, branch-based bank.A brand…

This week I’m at a major retail banking conference in Orlando, USA, home of Disney and Universal Studios. Sure, I can hear you all saying, what’s Chris doing at such a Mickey Mouse Conference, but it’s got over 4,000 retail bankers here, so it’s worth my while. Anyways, sitting around in the sunshine yesterday, I…