Financial institutions are evaluating improvements in their core banking and processing systems, but trade services are still seen as an expensive “nice to have” addition to core functionality. Yet, not integrating meaningful trade solutions into customer offers not only cedes valuable ground to non-bank competitors, but it can also leave revenue on the table by possibly ignoring credit opportunities in the supply chain.  Read More »

Increased costs of risk mitigation, compliance, and transparency are making firms re-evaluate their product, customer, and market strategies. Attend our Financial Services Conference to learn how capital markets firms are challenging the orthodoxies of existing business and operating models to meet compliance goals and customer needs. Read More »

Retail banking is impacted by the introduction of both direct and indirect technologies.  The benefits of direct technologies, such as the ATM, are immediately obvious and a clear business case can be made to justify investments in the technology.   Conversely, indirect technologies such as the personal computer typically require convergence with other technologies before banks can realize the full benefit. Read More »

While gross domestic product (GDP) in many industrialized nations is expected to hover near 2% from 2011-2015, the IMF forecasts two to four times higher rates in emerging markets. Our research shows that lenders are tailoring business plans to the unique conditions of their market segments and are supporting these initiatives with strategic IT investments.  Read More »

When we last addressed the topic of financial regulation in Q4 2011 and Q1 2012, there was substantial uncertainty about the outcome of many of these rules, as well as the eventual timeframes for adoption and enforcement. In fact, a recent Factiva query for “uncertainty” and “regulation” across financial services yielded more than 65,000 hits, a 100% increase in frequency since 2009. Clearly, most of the industry is extremely concerned about the lack of clarity around major pieces of legislation. The natural question is to ask whether any definitive progress has been made in finalizing the governance of Dodd-Frank, Basel III, EMIR, among others, or are we still in a holding pattern?  Read More »

Over the last few years, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have taken considerable steps forward to reshape the way over-the-counter derivatives trading is conducted. Both the Dodd-Frank Act and the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation have reconfigured what has been a privately negotiated market, in which the large Wall Street banks served as market makers and most trading was completed using a request-for-quote system. Read More »

Of the $10 billion projected to be spent annually in upcoming years on information technology dedicated to the wealth management silo, much of it will be focused on technology that allows advisors to better engage with their clients and provide the level of tailored and on demand services that clients have now come to expect.  At our upcoming CEB TowerGroup Financial Services Conference, 23-25 May, join Peter Delano and Darrin Courtney as they explore the importance of technology investment in the following sessions:   Read More »

SPOC was mandated by an OCC/Treasury directive on April 13, 2011, which required the 14 largest servicers to assign a human single point of contact (SPOC) for delinquent customers to contact in conjunction with their loan modification requests.  The genesis of SPOC was the poor customer support delinquent mortgagors experienced when applying for a loan modification or other form of loan forbearance. Despite the new requirement, some servicers have taken a short-term approach by only hiring new staff without building a scalable default management operation to support them.   Read More »

We had three expectations about the short-term implications of Dodd Frank regulatory price controls on debit cards: banks will begrudgingly comply with the required dates; the promise to reduce consumer prices at the retail point of sale will be unfulfilled; and, card issuers will tool up reward programs to drive up credit, instead of debit, usage.  Our case model was how the Australian card market reacted after similar requirements driven by the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2007.  So far, our predictions are three-for-three, though the industry now awaits a new regulatory twist. Read More »

Resolve in Uncertainty at the annual CEB TowerGroup Financial Services Conference, 23-25 May , and learn how new technology innovations and combinations can propel data driven business decisions, and drive life insurance sales for underinsured middle-income households. Read More »