US consumer banks with less than $20bn in assets dedicate 49% of their IT spending on core banking systems to traditional deposit systems. These are mostly legacy application systems that include basic functions like teller support, statements and funds transfer. Larger banks have been directing most of their technology investments to specialised consumer finance products, like cards, loans and mortgages.

Tim Jones, CEO of Simpay, talks to Parveen Bansal about the future direction of the payments industry and the power of technology to shake up accepted ways of doing things.
The payments world has evolved in a complicated way, says Tim Jones, chief executive officer of global mobile payments scheme Simpay. This state of affairs – due to “all manner of reasons” – has led to the current way in which the world’s payment systems operate, which he describes as “complicated, and by no means optimal”.

Top African bankers have been told they have to reduce costs, satisfy clients and become compliant. Parveen Bansal reports.

Central banks in the new EU member states are at different levels of technological advancement, with some even ahead of their western counterparts. Michael Imeson reports.
The European Union gained 10 more countries last month, and with them 10 more central banks. For anyone doing business with central banks, the EU is a bountiful hunting ground, now with 26 such institutions – one for each country, plus the European Central Bank.

Banks that solely implement customer relationship management at an internal sales management level rather than for improving customer service are missing the point, says Chris Skinner.

The comparative performance of US and international banks during 2003 reveals a drive to increase revenues. Many are operating in a cost-containment mode but some have started to invest in customer-oriented technologies that help to grow their businesses organically.