Comments for Banking Times: Daily Banking News

Comment on Hefty sentences for £50m mortgage fraud duo by anticorruption

anticorruption — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:59:13 +0000

as we all know who have been watching this fraud it was not properly investigated by the SFO or reported by the financial press if you are wondering why your colleagues lost their jobs or why your jobs are on the line take an interest in the demise of the uks banks and building societies which commenced with the demise of the cheshire BS fraud which was not properly investigated by the SFO as this fraud would have been extremely embarrassing for the government if the truth had ever come out in 2006. Don’t forget while your employers were telling you to promote cash machines to avoid you of stress and problems with customers they were cutting your jobs and you permitted them to do this and lose your jobs so that everyone would pay for the cost of their frauds other than the people who profited at our expense.

Comment on Barclays enhances travel insurance offering by Clayton

Clayton — Thu, 19 May 2011 06:02:38 +0000

I really likes the different travel insurance policies which are offering by the barclays.

Comment on Northern Rock cuts 680 jobs by BreakingWind

BreakingWind — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:33:48 +0000

I trust the CEO is among the first to go – the country cannot afford him.
Clearly, he should forfeit his last 3 years salary and bonuses…!!!

I’ve never been more serious in my life. It’s the kind of thing Britain MUST do if it really wants to put an end to bank disasters. Just do it and we’ll see such a public humbling of such guys – Uriah Heap will seem like the last of the straight talkers, forever more…!!!

Comment on Hong Kong banks agree terms for Lehman investors by hanhoco

hanhoco — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:59:44 +0000

Many Bank of China HK sale managers got their customers in 2008 for catastrophe while many other smaller banks stopped sales of Minibonds in 2008 but all these banks never warned their customers. For most, they bit on their company’s pitch hook, line and sinker. They remained in the dark until it was too late and now are being charged.

Comment on Bank of America halts WikiLeaks payments by LeRuscino

LeRuscino — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:09:34 +0000

WikiLeaks carry out promethean acts and punishment goes with the territory.

Exposing wrong doing is a fundamental cornerstone of true democracy and more will come. America has handled this very badly and Bank of America, Visa etc have stupidly compounded the error.

Comment on Sharp increase in direct debit fraud by Jonathan Williams

Jonathan Williams — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:11:51 +0000

It is commonly accepted that criminals react very quickly to newly-introduced security measures. Perhaps it is not surprising that as new fraud prevention technologies such as Chip and PIN and two-factor authentication have become the norm fraudsters are already moving to the next perceived loophole – direct debits. Typically this is, as discussed in the report, a fraud of “misuse of facility”: using someone else’s bank account to pay the fraudster’s bill. The telecoms industry quite rightly provides a prime example of the challenges around direct debit fraud. Criminals set up unauthorised direct debits on third-party bank accounts or by using stolen and/or made-up account and sort code details and walk out of high-street shops with expensive smartphones and no intention of paying the ongoing subscription.

From our research many corporates still report direct debit fraud as theft and therefore report it to the police instead of informing their bank or a clearinghouse such as Bacs. It is therefore not surprising that these organisations don’t get to see the true picture. What businesses have to bear in mind, however, is that, as cheques decline and efficiency becomes paramount in this new age of austerity, there is a general drive in both the private and public sector to move more and more payments to Direct Debit. A propotion of these will be fraudsters posing as legitimate customers and this report provides a first estimate of this fraction.

It is good to see a corporate talking openly about the problems of preventing fraud. Only by facing up to the challenges, including what measures could be applied to manage the problem, can the payments industry start to take control. The key is further verification of the data provided. Direct Debit originators should check the account numbers appear to be valid, but best practice is to confirm the link to the owner of the account and authenticate the prospective consumer and, ideally, his or her address.

Fraud considerations, especially in today’s financial climate, need to be top of the agenda for financial institutions and corporates. In order to prevent a rise in direct debit fraud, companies need to adopt the relevant data validation tools to verify a customer’s account at the point of entry. Connecting an individual’s identity to their bank account and address is one solution; only by linking these three pieces of information can corporates really be sure of their consumer information, and more importantly the source or destination of their customer’s funds. Preventing fraud is like repairing a burst pipe – it is only when all the holes have been plugged that there will be no leakage.

Comment on OFT closes in on 129 debt management firms by djwhite01

djwhite01 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:52:52 +0000

It would be really useful if we could get a list of the 129 to see if we are using one of them!

Comment on Barclays to create 600 jobs in Glasgow by KeithMason

KeithMason — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:29:35 +0000

The announcement that Barclays is to create up to 600 new jobs in Glasgow demonstrates that Scotland has the skills base, the infrastructure and experience to support a major resource project with one of the UK’s leading organisations. A welcome boost for Glasgow, this news strengthens the argument that there are attractive jobs with market leading businesses outside of London. Indeed, Scotland is already viewed as a strong contributor to the financial services community in Europe.

This significant investment in Scotland could not come at a better time; the Scottish marketplace is well-placed to provide companies such as Barclays with high calibre staffing, as a result of candidates relocating from major cities to seek an improved work life balance, whilst still making strides in their career, candidates keen to remain in Scotland and forge a career closer to home

Comment on Banking reforms may drive HSBC from City base by Michael 23

Michael 23 — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:53:44 +0000

Some of HSBC shareholders like myself have know it was just time untill they moved from London. Mr Stuart Gulliver Pay and Bonus 2008 – 2010
PAY £ 2,400,000
CASH BONUS 20008 £ 5,592,000
RESTRICTED SHARE PLAN AWARDS £ 9,000,000
SHARE PLAN AWARDS £ 4,073,000
TOTAL £21,065,000
From 2006-2010

Mr Green Mr Geoghegan Mr Flint have been awarded £71,840,000
THAT IS A TOTAL OF £92,905,000 FOR 4 PEOPLE
PLEASE DO NOT BUY A LOTTERY TICKET JUST JOIN HSBC BOARD ????????

Is it really about the British Goverment or is it something else. As SHAREHOLDER while they are in the UK I know that we are able to question them and their actions. People should look at what their customers in India are saying about when they complain. Just put in HSBC COMPLAINTS INDIA.

Comment on Santander admits to customer service failing by M.Good

M.Good — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:39:20 +0000

I closed my account with Alliance and Leicester on the 2nd August. They moved my savings but did not close the account. I called again to ask where my intest was and they finally closed the account.
I still have not been given my interest (over £1000) and I have spent 5 hours on the phone to be told completely different excuses each time. I have sent over 30 email and only received an automated response. It is now 27 days later since I asked for my account to be close and the bank still has my interest and is still ignoring my begging them to pay the amount owed.
To add insult to injury i was going to move my savings to another bank but the A and L assistant persuaded me to move it to Santander. I am in distress.