The opportunities in the global transaction banking space may be numerous but, knowing the high costs associated with technological and regulatory changes, most banks are pursuing a specialist strategy rather than trying to capture every segment of this attractive market.
DenizBank's modern, nimble IT system has a series of admirers in the banking world, and includes none other than Bill Gates among those who it has impressed. The bank's chief operating officer tells The Banker how DenizBank is now ready to take its IT knowhow to a wider international audience.
The breadth of MasterCard's portfolio of payment solutions would have been unimaginable when the president of global technology and operations at MasterCard Technologies, Robert Reeg, started his career, but with 85% of global transactions still in cash, he explains the importance of pressing ahead with yet more innovation.
Banks are no longer just competing with each other, they are also at war with a growing number of retailers and innovative start-ups that employ social media tactics to offer sought-after services. The Banker brought together a panel of banking experts to discuss the issues. This round table was sponsored by Cisco, but independently written and edited.
Turkey’s government wants to establish Istanbul as an international financial hub in time for the country’s 100th anniversary as a republic in 2023. The country's geographical location certainly works to its advantage, but it has much to achieve in just 10 years. Will it succeed?
Every e-mail that is sent, every tweet that is posted and every Facebook update that is published creates data that gets logged and backed up – somewhere. This ‘somewhere’ is 'the cloud'. With the continuous growth of digital social networks, this data cloud is expanding – creating both a buzz and opportunities for banks but also fears about data storage and maintenance.
By the end of 2013, all of the Central and Eastern European Stock Exchange Group's exchanges will have upgraded their trading systems to Xetra. Michael Buhl, joint-CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange and CEESEG, explains the importance of centralising systems while retaining a local identity.
At a recent round table hosted by The Banker, a panel of industry experts discussed the changing nature of technology and innovation with regards to economic and regulatory influences. The experts also considered how these factors shape the competitive landscape and create opportunities for co-operation. The event, the last in a four-part series, was sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, but independently written and edited.
The global financial crisis caused many corporates to review their treasury operations, with a large number reducing banking partners and signing up to shared technology platforms. Such changes, combined with the introduction of new regulations, such as the Single European Payments Area, have left many banks rethinking their global transaction services.
A decade-old political vision to create a harmonised payments scheme across Europe is finally nearing its deadline. But the prospect of a Single European Payments Area never seemed so threatened by economic volatility or so opaque in regulatory direction.
Lebanon’s central bank recently went live with a national payment scheme. Ali Nahle, senior executive director and head of the IT department, talks about its success and discusses the national clearing house and government payment scheme, which are next on the agenda.
The Dodd-Frank Act, Section 1073 is going to alter the practice of retail cross-border payments services – not just for US-based financial institutions but also for their correspondent banking relationships abroad. The deadline is near, but a practical solution to meet the requirements of the rule still seems far off. The Banker looks at some alternatives that have finally started to emerge.