| Bank of America Launches Microsite
Bank of America Corp. has launched its "Bank the Way You Live" mircosite today in an effort to attract customers who want to do mobile banking. The site features characters that lead users through interactive demonstrations of each online and mobile banking product. Customers can find information on how to access accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and receive account alert text messages on their mobile phone. Customers can also see how to gather information and accounts for a clearer financial picture, all with layers of security to keep customers personal finance information protected. .
New BofA site touts online, cell-phone banking
Bank of America Corp. has launched an online site to instruct customers about online and cell-phone banking. "Our customers lead mobile lives, and they need a bank with options, products and features that can keep up with that fast pace," says Lance Drummond, e-commerce and ATM executive. "With Bank of America, all you need is Internet access through your computer or mobile phone to be connected to your finances anytime, anywhere." The site features characters that lead visitors through interactive demonstrations of each online- and mobile-banking product. Customers can learn how to access accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and receive account alerts via text message on their mobile phone. The Web site, dubbed Bank the Way You Live, is at bankofamerica.com/anywhere.
Stocks jump as investors buy bargains and energy and metals producers; credit worries remain
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street bounded higher Tuesday as investors still mindful of widening credit problems nonetheless went in search of bargain stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 117 points, with soaring oil and precious metals prices driving up the companies that produce those commodities.Investors remain haunted by the big debt problems at banks, notably Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. But companies outside of the banking, lending and housing industries have been posting strong financial results — on Tuesday, Tenet Healthcare Corp., Nortel Networks Corp. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. impressed Wall Street with their quarterly earnings.And with no major bad news to follow up Citigroup’s Sunday announcement that it was preparing to mark down another $8 billion to $11 billion of subprime debt, even bank stocks, pummeled in recent months, looked like bargains.Citigroup fell, but JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wachovia Corp., Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual Inc.
Standard Bank to increase transaction fees
Standard Bank will raise its transaction fees by an average of 4,65% in 2008, the bank said on Monday. Increasing competitive pressure, rising interest rates and inflation were some of the reasons for the increase, said the bank's CEO for personal and business banking, Sim Tshabalala. He said the bank had to strike a balance between keeping its customers happy and providing a return for its shareholders. A "veritable slew" of competitors had entered the field, offering basic banking services, such as Woolworths, Shoprite Checkers and Bidvest. The bank's director of banking products, Keith Fuller, said: "There's a relatively healthy gap between inflation and the price increases." Since 2006, this gap had, however, been decreasing. In 2006 the bank increased fees by 1,97%, while annualised inflation was 3,9%, a difference of 1,93%.
Cell phone banking? It’s a hard sell
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Curtis McGovert, Dave Ritter and Leon Mendiola have at least three things in common. They own cell phones. They bank at Wells Fargo. And they didn't realize that they effectively have an ATM in their pockets that they now can use to do some of their banking – anytime, anywhere. Make that four things in common: As intriguing as mobile banking sounds to each of them, none is dying to try it. They don't see a clear need for it or worry that it's vulnerable to hackers. "I'm just a basic user," said McGovert, a 33-year-old personal trainer from Milpitas, Calif. "I'm not into all the high-tech. I'm old school." And there, in a nutshell, is the challenge that banks face as they race to roll out the next big thing for on-the-go consumers. To succeed, they must show customers that it's convenient and easy to use their cell phone to check balances, transfer money and watchdog their finances even if they're miles from a computer.
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