Put the fun back in banking, share saving goals with friends and family. This could be the slogan of Internet bank Smartypig. On this secure banking site, saving accounts are goal oriented.

This means that it is possible to save for specific items and events, for instance a holiday, an anniversary gift, an iPhone or a flat-screen TV.

Furthermore, it is possible for mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, friends and colleagues to join and help save money for that specific goal, creating an opportunity to reach the necessary amount even quicker.

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Recently, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) introduced a special credit card that is valid throughout the week but can be used to get special discounts in the weekends.

With this card you can get discounts at various shops, restaurants, clubs, discos and amusement parks in the United Arab Emirates. Weekend excursions and avenues abroad are only a few elements of RBS’s latest card innovation and cardholders can expect more benefits to be added with special promotions in the coming months.

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What can a bank do to avoid bankruptcy? For one, they can pay more attention to their risk managers and take warnings about high-risk investments more seriously.

Bank managers agree, according to a recent survey performed by KPMG, a Dutch firm offering audit, tax and advisory services. In their survey, KPMG questioned 500 bank managers.

As much as 75% admit that banks consider risk management to be a supporting function, and fail to make it a structural part of the decision making process. 45% of the interviewees state that the board does not have sufficient knowledge of risk management. What do they feel needs to be changed? 60% say risk managers should have a bigger influence on corporate strategy. 75% say that the banking sector needs stricter rules.

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Imagine you need cash, and you need it now. In situations like these, it might be tempting to take out a loan through an Internet or SMS service and have the money available within 15 minutes. The popularity of quick credit sites that provide just this service is growing. Should banks step into this fast growing market and offer payday loans?

Companies providing payday loans have been operating in the Netherlands since 2007. Examples are Cashbob, Voorschotje, Doemawat and Ferratum. They offer their clients the possibility of taking out small, short-term loans: up to 750 euros for a maximum of 30 days.
 
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Carrying around cash is considered an increasingly obsolete practice. Using electronic money, either on cards or through direct bank transfers, is quicker, more secure and cheaper. After all, the overhead of printing and coining money, distributing, withdrawing, counting and depositing is removed.

Banks have launched various cashless payment systems, from credit cards and magnetic debit cards that facilitate direct bank transfers to chip cards that act as electronic wallets onto which electronic money can be loaded. Interestingly, one of the most advanced cashless payment systems today was not introduced by a bank but rather by a public transport firm, over a decade ago.

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Can complementary currencies – used in conjunction with the established monetary system – help us recover from the credit crisis and prevent economic downfall in the future?

Yes, says the Belgian monetary thinker Bernhard Lietaer. A system without interest, as an addition to our current system, can save us. Litaer challenges the monopolistic position of the current monetary system in many of his talks, books and interviews.

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Looking at the current Western banking situation it might be interesting to peek at developing countries and their banking systems.

Developing countries? They are often lagging behind our Western world, aren’t they? Not quite, I would say.

Innovations in developing countries often leap-frog the West. As an example, Celtel International managed to put up a borderless mobile phone network in Africa. It enables Africans to make calls across 12 countries at a local rate. A thing that is yet to take place in the EU…

One popular banking system in developing countries is a system that was pioneered by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. It’s called solidarity lending.

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Informing the right employees about possible problems, so they can contribute solutions, helps companies survive the credit crunch. Says Trude Maas in the monday issue of the Dutch newspaper het Financieel Dagblad.

Maas is business columnist for het Financieel Dagblad and former senator of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA). She is also chairwoman of the board of directors of Philips, and member of the boards of amongst others ABN AMRO and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

“Fewer expenses, more revenue. We know the mantra by now. The importance of added value, however, is mentioned considerably less often”, Maas says.

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Column Joris Peels

The last time I visited a bank branch was 12 months ago. My new ATM card had not arrived in time and the previous card had expired. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. The last time I spoke to someone from my bank was a few months ago when they cold called me to sell me travel insurance. I use their online banking tool quite a lot but have never really explored their website beyond this tool.

I would like to say that my bank is a personal financial advisor, an institution I turn to for advice. But, I can not help but feel that any contact I have with them either revolves around them having made a mistake in some way or them trying to cross-sell me some kind of financial product. My relationship with my bank is definitely one of “my bank and I” and not one of “us.”

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In spite of the increasing success of internet- and mobile banking, research shows that both consumers and business owners still value face to face contact with their banker.

Various organizations point out that at the moment there are still enough branch offices. Will this remain the case, or will more and more offices close down and will the digitally inept become the victim of the digitalization of banking?

A European survey performed by TNS NIPO in 2007 shows that 65% of the respondents prefer online services, but 53% still appreciate being able to speak directly with an employee. Ideally, the convenience of internet banking is seamlessly combined with the personal interaction found in branch offices.

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