The Bankwatch

No comment on the politics of this, but I love the disruptive influence internet is bringing to politics.

Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive The changing power in Washington DC «

Back to why they are pissed. Barack Obama, Ross told me, is raising tons of money $50 to $100 at a time outside of this “bundling” system. The people in the old system don’t like that a new system is being built and that they aren’t part of it.

What strikes me about this email initiated by Bill Gates over 5 years ago is not a techie issue. The important email is not Gates words … its the two emails right after that begin a thread that is classic internally focussed, and just wrong. If you see your Bank here, then start cringing.

Look for:

1. no reply all to Gates - so we have to assume Poole sent a separate email to Gates profusely apologising, then wrote the cool, no problem email to Amir & Chris.
2. Amir’s email refusing to acknowledge there is an issue. Note he says that Bill’s experience is not his. This is the opposite of customer focussed, but note that Bill did not see that response.

Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant

It shows that even the Microsoft co-founder — who champions the “magic of software” — isn’t immune to the frustrations of everyday computer users. Keep in mind that this was more than five years ago, so it doesn’t necessarily reflect the specific state of things now.

Steve is developing into a thought leader, and his insights are worthwhile, providing a good synopsis of trends. Three here, pertaining to FriendFeed:

1. peer influence as an emergent source of trust
2. search as an emergent tool
3. emergent millenial generation

Why Tiny FriendFeed Will Be as Big as Google - Advertising Age - Steve Rubel

First, there’s the rising influence of peers. Some 58% of opinion elites 35 to 64 said they trust a “person like me,” according to the Edelman Trust Barometer.

Second, there’s search. Some 90% of the online population searches, according to the Pew Internet for the American Life Project.

Finally, there’s the giant pool of Millennials. They have no problem living their lives online and are predisposed to creating and consuming content created by peers.

I have been applauding RBC’s internet initiatives, and this one from what looks like a press release is no exception … except I cannot find it? Anyone out there at RBC care to help me out here.

Finextra: RBC Direct Investing taps blogs for investment management

Community is part of a wider site redesign by RBC, which is also adding a ’sectors and industries’ page to allow investors to target areas and obtain more granular trending information. The bank says a ‘trading dashboard’ will be added this summer which will enable more active traders to consolidate research, tracking and execution on a single screen.

There are stories all over the world that remain in the subtext, but are centred on one issue … inflaton.  There is much talk of emerging economies.  The facts are that many of the countries that are credited with the growth potential (Russia, China, India) will still find themselves in the situation of significant inflation, and that will result in changes to policies in those countries, that will have global implications.

In short the future is not linear, and certainly not as clear as what we might think.

ft.com

Spare capacity in the economy (Russia), which facilitated its rapid growth over the past decade, is now running out. The state statistics agency estimates that capacity utilisation in key sectors such as metals and chemicals has risen to more than 90 per cent. The squeeze on resources is spurring inflation, now running at about 14 per cent year-on-year. Food is the main culprit, but other prices are also rising. Reining in domestic demand will be tough. Nominal wage growth, according to Capital Economics, has hit 30 per cent year-on-year.

A decade after the Asian crisis, governments from China to Russia are still trying to achieve the impossible.

Wesabe continue to build very useful tools that just enhances the value of their service. Based on real transaction data, they offer up merchant comparisons including actual usage.

Wheaties for Your Wallet » Blog Archive » New Feature: the new Tips tab | the Wesabe Value Engine

We look at how much people spend at a merchant, how often they come back to give that merchant repeat business, and what they have to say about their satisfaction with that merchant. From these points, we build a comparison that lets you narrow in on the values in your neighborhood, and decide which merchant is best for you and your needs:

Google are celebrating St Georges day …. hope they remember St Andrews day later this year!

Here is the  Aneace presentation to Banking Forum 2008 in Paris. Aneace is on the panel tomorrow here at DigitalMoneyForum.

Aneace blog

Dave Birch introduces the conference. Brilliant humour!

Gen Y as a generation is consequently distinctive enough to merit specific consideration from Banks.  I have talked here before about building online banking and services specifically for Gen Y.  I think that way because theirs is the next demographic group on the horizon, with significant spending capability.  “Their annual spending is already projected to be $2.45 trillion by 2015″

Unless you have multiple online banking sites, you have left with the choice of ‘dumbing it down’ to the lowest common denominator, or targeting a niche, and making the working assumption that other demographic segments are quite willing to accept new things because ‘thats how internet is.  I would further support that theory by suggesting that Baby boomers have characteristics that are not dissimilar to some of those of GenY so risk of alienating boomers is low.

Finally, any strategy that does not have GenY front and centre is a non-starter, when the long term revenue impact is considered.

Deloitte LLP for the full report

Gen Y demands a fresh approach to marketing, channel management and product strategy. Banks must rethink their traditional strategies to capture this important segment.

Gen Y is a catalyst for change. Success with Gen Y can significantly impact a bank’s success with other generations.

Gen Y-ers are multichannel buyers. Banks need to provide an integrated channel experience for bank transactions if they want to retain those customers longer term.