Investment banks have always been quick to embrace new forms of communications technology, but with continued fear of security and the struggle to manage the overall costs of their messaging systems,Patrick Burton asks, are they realising the potential of messaging across the organisation?

Is offshoring mortgage operations to India a long-term trend or a short-term fad?

Regulation may be a burden for banks but consultants and IT firms are turning a profit from their woes. However, Chris Skinner questions whether bankers are too quick to throw money at the problems in search of a quick fix.

The banking sector often needs to exchange confidential information as part of its routine business, which opens it up to potential fraud. Kris Sangani reports on security measures to prevent such disasters.

Marcus Treacher of HSBC tells Dan Barnes about the rationale for its technology strategy and why banks that can think like treasurers and CFOs will beat the competition.
The tech vision of Marcus Treacher, head of global transaction banking e-Strategy at HSBC, is firmly rooted in using the SWIFT network and the ‘value added’ services that can be provided to customers.

To earn $1, diversified banks spend about 60 cents. A convoluted set of financial services processes, fragmented systems and legacy interfaces affect structural expense. Continual processing and system errors cause frequent rework and ineffective controls.

Technological developments herald the death of plastic as customers can now be identified via biometrics – or chips in their clothing before they have even entered the bank. By Chris Skinner.

Applications can now be built from components that can be recycled and reused. Dan Barnes reports on how banks are reducing the need to design systems from scratch.
It seems that every three letter abbreviation – or TLA – heralds the next big thing (or NBT) in information communications technology (or ICT). The latest push from technology providers’ marketing departments is service-oriented architecture (SOA).

To make the radical change from selling products to services, Jose Valino, CIO at Spanish savings bank Caixa Galicia, uses consultants wisely and co-operates with other banks on technology development. He tells Dan Barnes about bridging the gap between the business and IT departments and helping customers to understand the new systems.