Balance is key to averting Asian credit card turmoil

Recent events in South Korea have overshadowed more general concerns about the direction of Asian credit card markets. While turmoil in South Korea has been the most high profile, Datamonitor's Alex Boorman argues that the contributory factors are not too dissimilar from those that are noticeable elsewhere in the region...

Published By Datamonitor

B2E wireless: a comet in the dark US mobile space

Most see wireless technology and the US market as an unlikely match. This is often a fair view - but recent trends show that there is room for expansion in the enterprise space. Some vertical industries, in particular insurance, are among the early-adopters; big vendors are already preparing themselves for the take-off of enterprise wireless technology.

Published By Datamonitor

Axa/Bank of Scotland: staking out the future together

Published By Datamonitor

Axa/Abbey: a passage to India

French insurer Axa [AXA] and UK bank Abbey [ABBE.L] have announced a swathe of job cuts as they outsource back office operations to India. Both firms need to drive down costs in the wake of their recent troubles. However, they must be aware of the damage that such large-scale relocations can do to their brand image.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian Treasurer: cracking down on bank fees

Australian banks have been accused of making unjustified increases on standard home loan rates, which are higher than the Reserve Bank interest rate rises. In light of this, the Australian Treasurer is moving on legislation that would reduce switching fees for mortgages. However, it is questionable whether increased regulation of banks really can ameliorate housing affordability.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian reverse mortgages: a market poised for growth

The potential market size for reverse mortgages in Australia is enormous, but recent data shows that industry growth has stagnated in 2007. At present, the market is thought to be worth A$1.8 billion. However, with life expectancy ever increasing and a rising number of financially unprepared pensioners, the market is expected to boom in the future.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian reverse mortgage market hits hurdle in 2007

After several years of strong growth, the Australian reverse mortgage market has slowed down considerably in 2007. Indeed, a rising interest rate environment, combined with uncertain property prices and exacerbated by global credit concerns, has led to decelerating growth rates. However, the outlook for the future is still bright.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian prepaid cards: big banks battle for first place

ANZ and Westpac recently introduced schemed prepaid cards within a day of each other, significantly ramping up competition in Australia's payment card market, and indicating the potential of the prepaid market. Smaller players have been offering these cards in Australia for the last year but will clearly have to fight harder for market share now the major banks have joined them.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian online banking: hitting technical glitches

Three of the five major Australian banks have experienced problems with their online banking platforms lately, with the most recent glitch being with ANZ's website, which crashed following a technical error, leaving a million customers without online banking. This highlights that many Australian corporations need to improve their technical platforms to maintain competitiveness in the market.

Published By Datamonitor

Australian mortgagors under more pressure as banks pass on RBA rate rise

On March 2, the RBA raised the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4% in a move widely anticipated by financial analysts. On the same day, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said that it would pass on the rise to both its mortgage and deposit customers, with NAB and Westpac following suit on March 3. There are now several factors that will serve to increase stress on Australian mortgagors.

Published By Datamonitor