A recent encounter with a business banker proved that, as far as financial services are concerned, the days of human relationships and judgement calls are over. The computerised process is king. By Chris Skinner.

Improved education and better living standards mean employees are returning to India, transforming the country’s outsourced financial services. Brian Caplen reports on how the industry has adapted.

The rapid take off of prepaid cards in the US last year looks set to be replicated in Europe in 2008. Stephen Timewell and Wendy Atkins report on the payment industry’s ‘next big thing’.

Fortis and HSBC provide two examples of the onward march of automated banking, a phenomenon that is also the subject of a Europewide survey by Fujitsu. Michael Imeson reports.

Prime brokers are investing in smarter systems to manage risk and collateral across multiple asset classes. Frances Maguire looks at how far this ability to mark-to-market in real-time will go.

The T-Charter, a code of best practice for transition managers, was unveiled at the end of 2007, but even before the ink was dry it appeared that it did not go far enough. Frances Maguire looks into whether the industry is better or worse off.

Analysts believe that Citi will, ultimately, be able to save close to $110m annually through reduced maintenance costs as well as more rapid development times. Steve Randich talks about the ambitious overhaul of Citi’s banking IT systems, across 67 countries, which took seven years.

It is imperative that banks keep up to date with technology. Upgrading core systems is a multi-stage process, best approached with a transformation partner, says Rajashekara V Maiya, product manager at Infosys Technologies.

Technology is increasingly becoming a big part of mergers and acquisitions, and having a clear view of the target operations model is paramount, says Heather McKenzie.

Retail banking is predicted to remain a driving force, though it will have to adapt as customer needs change. But how a bank utilises the technology at its disposal could be crucial to its survival, says Michael Imeson.