Barclays CIO David Weymouth talks to Dan Barnes about how unsustainable business models sparked a restructuring at the bank, why these changes included partnering and why handing certain services to third parties should not mean “outsourcing a mess”.

The EU’s attempts to make offshore savers pay tax are forcing banks to devise some innovative strategies to protect this sizeable and lucrative market, reports Michael Imeson.

Banks in Europe are turning to chip and PIN payment cards not just to combat fraud but also in the hope that greater security will boost usage and strengthen their relationship with their customers. Stephen Timewell reports.

Having the right custody model in place entails being prepared to embrace change quickly. This year, it will be critical for banks to get tough on standardising in areas where they have strived to add value, says Frances Maguire.
Custody, and its related services, has now become synonymous with large lift-out deals in which the custodian banks take over the systems and staff of fund managers’ back offices and run them. However, new research into the securities services sector argues strongly that the lift-out model is flawed and unsustainable, and that unless the custodian banks react quickly, they are leaving themselves open to selective cherry-picking by prime brokers and other specialists.

As previously noted in this column, retail banking lines of business have delivered enviable levels of margin and growth over the last three years.

When is an ATM not an ATM? When it’s a vending machine. Chris Skinner finds that banks are finally waking up to the possibilities beyond cash dispensing that their customers will be queuing up to take advantage of.

As trading volumes rise inexorably, banks face a pressing need to develop trading platforms that meet demand. But is the quest for the all-singing, all-dancing trading system a folly doomed to end in costly failure? Dan Barnes surveys the scene.

Jon Saxe, CIO at Morgan Stanley, tells Dan Barnes that he regards system reliability as a crucial strand of operations and that hardware should not be allowed to dictate the speed of innovation.

The IAS 39 poses real risk for treasury departments in the first two quarters of next year. Dan Barnes examines the potential impact of the new accounting standard and the late change that is contributing to compliance problems.

Not many people know but Rabobank is Europe’s biggest internet bank. Micheal Imeson explains how the Dutch bank is building on this, while striving to maintain its dominance in other sectors.
A small, unpaid army is at work in the Netherlands. A band of 40-50 men and women – all Rabobank pensioners – are targeting old people’s homes throughout the country. Their mission: to recruit as many elderly people as possible to the bank’s internet service. Their tactics: to be invited to care homes to teach residents en masse how to use computers, surf the web and make the most of internet banking.