A leading payments industry news source for more than 17 years. Glenbrook curates the news and keeps you abreast of the important daily headlines in payments.
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June 5, 2020
On the web
Japan’s Biggest Banks Are Talking About Building a Digital Payments System
CoinDesk
“Three of Japan’s largest banks are among major players joining a study group looking at developing a digital payment system that may address concerns about cryptocurrencies. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mizuho Financial Group, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group – institutions that control more than $6.6 trillion in assets between them – will participate in a study group to determine the feasibility of a national digital payments solution.”
June 4, 2020
On the web
Banks Took $11 Billion in Overdraft Fees in 2019, Group Says
The New York Times
“Large U.S. banks took $11.68 billion in overdraft fees out of their customers’ accounts last year, even before the pandemic kicked off an economic crisis, according to research by the Center for Responsible Lending. Vulnerable people were by far the hardest hit: Nine percent of account holders paid 84 percent of the overdraft fees, according to the review, which focused on banks with assets of more than $1 billion. Those customers tended to carry low balances, averaging less than $350.”
May 13, 2020
On the web
JPMorgan Extends Banking Services to Bitcoin Exchanges
Wall Street Journal (paywall)
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. has taken on two well-known bitcoin exchanges, Coinbase Inc. and Gemini Trust Co., as banking customers, according to people familiar with the matter, the first time the bank has accepted clients from the cryptocurrency industry. The move is the latest in a string of positive developments for bitcoin and another sign that Wall Street is becoming more comfortable with the business of cryptocurrencies.”
April 16, 2020
On the web
Stimulus Payments Slow Down Online Banking
Wall Street Journal (pay wall)
“Customers at some banks across the country were temporarily unable to access their accounts online or through mobile apps on Wednesday, shortly after the first round of government stimulus checks started landing in bank accounts. Customers reported trouble accessing account information at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group and Truist Financial Corp., among others.”
April 10, 2020
On the web
Goldman Sachs, the White-shoe Investment Bank, Launches Installment Loan Business With JetBlue
CNBC
“Goldman Sachs is taking another step into the world of retail banking with an installment loan product that’s launching with JetBlue Airways . The bank quietly released a website for something called MarcusPay this week, allowing users to break up big-ticket purchases into monthly payments. Loans ranging from $750 to $10,000 are repaid over 12 or 18 months at a fixed rate of 10.99% to 25.99%, with no fees apart from interest, according to the site.”
March 17, 2020
On the web
Yes Bank Crisis May Be Over for Its Depositors but India’s Banking Sector Won’t Recover Soon
Quartz India
“The worst is behind for India’s embattled Yes Bank, or so the country’s central bank has assured nervous depositors and investors. Yet, the recent feverish behaviour of the private lender translates into an epidemic-like scenario for India’s troubled banking sector. In a hurriedly-called press conference yesterday (March 16), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das assured all stakeholders that its reconstruction plan for Yes Bank is credible and sustainable.”
February 10, 2020
On the web
Think Your New Online Banking Agreement Sucks? So Does a Contract Law Expert | CBC News
CBC
“Most of Canada’s five big banks — BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank and TD — recently updated their electronic banking agreements, so Go Public asked an expert to assess how well they balance the banks’ liabilities against customer protections. The news is not good for millions of customers. “They are so one-sided and benefit the banks to such a degree that there is no way that I would call these bargained agreements,” said Anthony Daimsis, a professor of contract law at the University of Ottawa.”
January 30, 2020
On the web
Lloyds Banking Group to Shut 56 Branches by October 2020
Mobile Payments Today
“Lloyds Banking Group confirmed that it will close 56 bank branches across the U.K., as customer preferences continue to move toward digital banking and reduced dependence on physical branches. The group, which has more branches than any other financial institution across the U.K., includes Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and several other mortgage, auto finance and wealth management brands.”
January 29, 2020
On the web
This Bank Hired a Community Organizer and Here’s What Happened Next
nextcity
“The coworking and event space is just one of several of Berkshire’s planned brick-and-mortar locations that aren’t banks at all. Internally, the bank calls them storefronts, but they could be coworking locations, retail stores, or other possibilities. They’re all branded as Reevx (“Reev-ex”) Labs. Berkshire is planning to open more of them across its seven-state footprint in the Northeast. The storefronts are just one of several initiatives Lazu is shaping from her new position, all oriented toward bridging historic gaps between mainstream banks and communities of color.”
November 27, 2019
On the web
A Major UK Lender Just Launched a Digital Bank to Compete With Unicorns Like Monzo and Revolut
CNBC
“British lender NatWest has launched a digital bank to compete in the U.K.’s thriving fintech space. NatWest — a subsidiary of RBS — launched cloud-based bank Bo on Wednesday, with the service going live on both Apple’s App store and Google Play. Those who sign up to the digital bank will be sent a bright yellow Visa card and access their account via Bo’s mobile app.”
November 15, 2019
On the web
CIT Expands Direct Bank Offering With Launch of EChecking
prnewswire
“CIT’s national direct bank, CIT Bank , today announced the launch of eChecking , a new digital checking account featuring no monthly fee, up to .25% APY and an ATM Fee reimbursement of up to $15 a month. To enhance the banking experience, the new account also features a wide variety of electronic transfer and payment solutions, including debit card controls, Zelle®1, Bill Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.”
November 11, 2019
Top Post
EU Banks Plot Pan-European Rival to Visa and Mastercard
NFC World
“A group of 20 European banks are working together on “setting up a pan-European payment system to challenge the dominance of Visa, Mastercard and technology companies such as Google and PayPal,” French news agency AFP reports . “The Pan European Payment System Initiative (PEPSI) would handle all forms of cashless transactions,” AFP was told.”
October 18, 2019
On the web
As Neobank Valuations Bubble Up, Some Investors Think There’s an Even Better Bet in Fintech
Quartz
“Venture capitalists have poured billions of dollars into digital bank startups, and at least one more megadeal is expected before this year is over. Questions are being raised , however, about whether this fintech craze is another quixotic quest for market share that burns cash but doesn’t generate much profit in return.”
September 4, 2019
On the web
Barclays’ Former CEO Says Banks Should Beware the Story of Uber
Quartz
“In late 2015, Antony Jenkins said the banking industry was approaching its “ Uber moment .” The former Barclays CEO predicted that major, established lenders could be forced to cut as much as half their workforces and bank branches in the coming decade. He said that a group of new banks would become well known brands. Nearly four years later and his predictions seem broadly accurate. In the UK, the number of bank branches has dwindled to fewer than 8,000, compared with nearly 18,000 some 30 years ago.”
How U.S. Banks Took Over the World
Wall Street Journal
“A decade after fueling a crisis that nearly brought down the global financial system, America’s banks are ruling it. They earned 62% of global investment-banking fees last year, up from 53% in 2011, according to Coalition, an industry data provider. Last year, U.S. banks took home $7 of every $10 in merger fees, $6 of every $10 in stock commissions, and $6 of every $10 paid to hold and move corporate cash.”
June 10, 2019
On the web
Sberbank to Open First Branch in McDonald’s Restaurant
Russia Business Today
“Under the agreement, signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the companies intend to partner in card acquiring and a number of other more innovative areas such as using technical systems to analyze data, developing consumer behavior analysis systems, speeding up bank card payments, developing a payroll project for employees, and the opening of a pilot branch of the bank in a McDonald’s outlet.”
May 31, 2019
Top Post
Scotland Is on the Front Line in the Fight Against “cash deserts”
Quartz
“Communities like the villagers of Castlebay have been rising up in protest all over the UK to oppose the waves of bank branch closures and spread of so-called cash deserts. An average of 460 cash machines vanished every month in 2018, and the country has fewer than 8,000 bank branches now, down from nearly 18,000 in 1989 . Around 1,500 previously banked towns no longer have one. The angst in these villages and towns shows that a swath of people can’t, or don’t want to, leave the analog world behind, even as the number of ways to manage money online is exploding. And they have a point: Research shows that online finance isn’t yet a full replacement for its physical predecessor. Banks like RBS, Lloyds, and Barclays, meanwhile, are under pressure from impatient shareholders to cut costs, as digital rivals brag about their lack of costly physical branch networks.”
April 11, 2019
On the web
Small Banks Rebel Against the Most Important Tech Firms You Have Never Heard Of
Wall Street Journal (paywall)
“Lead Bank, a community lender in Kansas City, Mo., wanted to offer the payments app Zelle to its customers. But it had a problem. A company called Fiserv Inc. which provides much of the bank’s underlying technology, said Lead wouldn’t be able to launch Zelle until June at the earliest. Big U.S. banks rolled out the service nearly two years ago.”
March 26, 2019
Top Post
Citigroup Enters Banking’s Hottest Business With New Payments Unit
Wall Street Journal (paywall)
“Banks, meanwhile, are bolstering their own payment offerings, especially for massive merchants such as Amazon.com Inc. U.S. banks last year ramped up a nascent real-time payments network to move money instantly between consumer accounts. In January, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it was combining its once-separate merchant-to-consumer unit with its broader corporate-transactions business to create a new wholesale-payments group. Citigroup and other banks are betting that the combination of traditional banking and payments services will allow them to extract more business from their existing customers. For example, a merchant that collects payments in one currency and pays out in another could tap a bank’s trading desk for those transactions.”
March 14, 2019
On the web
JPMorgan’s Chase to Open up to 90 Branches in New U.S. Markets
Reuters
“JPMorgan Chase & Co’s consumer banking unit said on Wednesday it will open up to 90 branches in new U.S. markets, in the face of intensifying competition for loans and deposits among the country’s three biggest banks. JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp, and Wells Fargo & Co are nip and tuck in deposits. Bank of America, in early 2018, had decided to open more than 500 new branches across the United States by 2021.”
March 8, 2019
On the web
Big Banks J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America Are Pulling Out of Lower-Income Neighborhoods
Fortune
“Big banks have been closing branches in lower-income areas and shifting more of their attention to wealthier ones, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Overall, there’s been a trend among the biggest banks—specifically J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America—to reduce their branch networks. Relying on ATMs and online banking is less expensive. According to S&P Global data analyzed by Bloomberg, banks have shut 1,915 more branches in lower-income areas than they opened between 2014 and 2018, with J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America at the front of the trend.”
February 8, 2019
On the web
Bank branches lose influence in battle for U.S. market share: study
Reuters
“The percentage of customers who prefer to transact in branches declined to 26 percent from 38 percent in 2016, the study found. Branches are still among the factors McKinsey uses to determine opportunities to gain market share, but marketing, digital tools and customer satisfaction are becoming more influential.”
November 20, 2018
On the web
Two-thirds of UK bank branches have closed in the past 30 years
Finextra
“Banks often justify branch closures by pointing to partnership deals with local Post Offices for populations in remote areas. However, Which? has called into question the viability of the Post Office network as a stopgap solution, pointing to research which indicates that almost half of adults (45%) in Great Britain are unaware that they could use a Post Office for banking purposes.”
Smaller FIs Weigh In on Mobile Financial Services
Atlanta Fed Take on Payments blog
“Fifty-five percent of the respondents reported that more than 20 percent of their customers were active mobile banking users. Surprisingly, 14 percent of the respondents indicated they have no plans to offer mobile banking services. All but one of the FIs that have no plans to offer mobile banking had assets under $500 million. These FIs were almost evenly split between credit unions (33) and banks (36)…Offerings of mobile payment services continue to lag significantly behind mobile banking. Of the 2018 responses, 57 percent currently offer or plan to offer them, while 43 percent have no plans to offer them or were undecided.”
October 31, 2018
On the web
Sibos 2018: The future of money – the era of contextual financial services
Fintechnology News
“Goyal framed the session by pointing out to the tug-of-war between traditional financial services businesses and technology companies in collecting and using financial data, as well as the intensifying moves of tech companies into financial services.”
October 9, 2018
On the web
Goldman Sachs is scaling back expectations for the buzzy 2-year-old service its new CEO is relying on, and it highlights a major concern with the economy
Business Insider
“Goldman Sachs is cutting a key target for its consumer lending platform Marcus, reflecting the firm’s growing concerns about the consumer debt market, according to a new report. Goldman has scaled back loan originations for 2019 for Marcus, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday which cited anonymous sources.”
August 2, 2018
On the wires
Juniper Research: Blockchain Deployments To Save Banks More Than $27bn Annually By 2030
Business Wire
“According to the research, The Future of Blockchain: Key Vertical Opportunities & Deployment Strategies 2018-2030, banks that integrate blockchain will achieve cost reductions not just in payment processing and reconciliation, but in treasury operations and compliance. Indeed, the research argued that in compliance, automation of identity/money-laundering checks, allied to capability of the blockchain to verify the digital identity of an individual, should enable savings of up to 50% of the existing costs base within a few years. However, the research cautioned that the need to parallel-run blockchain-based services with legacy systems would mean that savings would not be realised for several years after initial deployment, with annual cost reductions not reaching $1 billion per annum until 2024.”
July 31, 2018
On the web
Zelle Struggles To Prove It’s Not Just Another Payments App (paywall)
The Wall Street Journal
“A year in, Zelle’s reviews are mixed. Usage is up, but most banks haven’t signed on, meaning many consumers can’t use it without downloading a separate app. It also fell short of its goal to have 33 banks on the network by its first anniversary, and behind the scenes, it runs on plumbing that’s more than 40 years old. Zelle’s rocky debut shows the challenges of trying to make alterations to an industry often slow to change and still weighed down by old infrastructure.”
July 30, 2018
On the web
IBM And FX Giant CLS Team Up To Launch Blockchain App Store For Banks
CoinDesk
“Even private and permissioned blockchains need to build ecosystems and achieve network effects, just like their permissionless, public counterparts. At least, that’s the thinking behind LedgerConnect, a financial blockchain “app store” that aims to make it easier for banks to access distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions from fintech and software providers, and for those vendors in turn to reach bank customers. Announced Monday, LedgerConnect is the offspring of bank-owned currency trading utility CLS and enterprise software giant IBM, and counts major banks Barclays and Citigroup among its founding members.”
July 25, 2018
Top Post
Corporates Begin Trials Of Multi-Bank Payments Tracking Across Swift gpi
Finextra
“Financial messaging network Swift has begun pilot trials of a multi-bank payments tracking service with 12 member institutions and 10 multi-national corporates. The cross-industry collaboration tailors Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi) initiative to cater for the needs of corporate treasuries dealing with multiple banks by providing a single format for end-to-end tracking and integrated flows in ERP and treasury management systems.”