80% of Africa population is unbanked - banking conference

[Issa Sikiti da Silva: @sikitimedia] Close to 80% of Africa's adult population is unbanked and this portion represents a total of 326 million adults, State Bank of Mauritius CEO Gautam Vir revealed at the Retail Banking Africa conference currently taking place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg. 26 Jul 2011 13:09

Standard Bank tops new African rankings table

JOHANNESBURG: Standard Bank has again been named Africa's top bank in The Banker magazine's 2011 rankings of the world's top banks by their Tier 1 capital. Standard Bank rose from 106th place to 94th place in The Banker's list of 1000 top banks in the world. 15 Jul 2011 11:10

FNB sees mobile banking growth in Africa

JOHANNESBURG: FNB has announced that it is seeing a rapid uptake of cellphone banking in Africa. The bank has recorded year-on-year growth of 376% in Zambia, 277% in Botswana; 204% in Namibia and 473% in Swaziland. 21 Jun 2011 10:47

Standard Bank, best trade bank in Africa - poll

In an online poll of businesses trading into and out of Africa conducted by Trade Finance magazine for its annual Awards for Excellence, Standard Bank was named best trade bank in sub-Saharan Africa and best trade bank in South Africa. Trade Finance magazine a global media title in the Euromoney Group. 20 Jun 2011 12:43

Innovative approach key to increase access to finance for African SMEs

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] African small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) financing gap is proportionally much greater than other regions, primarily because it is working from such a low starting point, McKinsey & Company South Africa said this week in Johannesburg, adding that diversified economies have a greater proportion of informal and micro enterprises and greater access to finance than other economies. 6 May 2011 10:30

The art of understanding an SME

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Africa has more than 500 million people of working age out of a population of about one billion but the lack of work opportunities, coupled with economic mismanagement and unfair redistribution of income, have forced many Africans to resort to informal methods to make a living. 5 May 2011 11:14

Property Radar

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: During a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, compounded by rate rises from all of the major banks in Australia, the finance industry was suffering from negative consumer perceptions, particularly across the home loan category. 26 Apr 2011 11:39

The new savvy British consumer

LONDON, UK: There's a change taking place in the UK as consumers start taking control of when, how and where they shop. Power is shifting from retailers to consumers and retailers need to adapt to survive. The retail space is ever changing and evolving- the role of social media, mobile & TV continues to grow, as will innovation in the sector. 21 Apr 2011 07:47

Reducing stress is key to financial services providers' success

[Published by Datamonitor] LONDON, UK: Financial services providers need to remind consumers that they can play a role in reducing stress, rather than adding to it, finds Datamonitor. 14 Apr 2011 13:12

Surge in mobile data revenue makes case for managed service model

CALABASAS, US: According to projections from Informa Telecoms & Media (www.informatm.com), mobile telecom revenues will reach US$1.1 trillion* by 2015 with 40% of this figure (US$440 billion) coming from data services. The pressure on carriers to maximise returns from data revenues is therefore becoming intense. 11 Apr 2011 11:09

Advances in technology will give consumers power over banks by 2020

LONDON, UK: Looking to the future of the financial services industry, independent market analyst Datamonitor has forecast that banks that are eager to engage with consumers will adopt new technology, putting consumers back in a position of power by 2020. 5 Apr 2011 09:08

Growth of mass affluent population to return across all markets

LONDON, UK: Datamonitor predicts that the number of mass affluent consumers (those with more than US$50 000* in onshore liquid assets) will return to growth in established markets** after declining during the recession. The client base will continue to rise in emerging markets, with particularly strong growth for countries such as Singapore. 5 Apr 2011 08:55

US mobile financial account usage surges

RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, has released the latest insights on the state of the mobile financial services market from its quarterly Mobile Financial Advisor report. 30 Mar 2011 06:19

Financial advisors can benefit by reaching out to women, reports Mintel

CHICAGO, US: Women are becoming increasingly influential in the financial world, according to data from market research firm Mintel. 30 Mar 2011 05:55