US FX market free from official intervention in second quarter

US monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the April—June quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its quarterly report to the US Congress.

During the three months that ended June 30, 2010, the dollar appreciated 10.4 percent against the euro but depreciated 5.4 percent against the Japanese yen. In this period, the dollar’s trade-weighted exchange value appreciated 3.6 percent as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s major currencies index.

You can download the Report HERE.

Free Hugs

We are just too serious most of the time. Please take a break and watch this video - relax and unwind! HUGS from Citadel Advantage.

Mobile Banking – Free to all Lloyds TSB customers

Lloyds TSB has introduced free mobile banking for all of its customers. This is aimed at enabling more people to take control of their finances.

Lloyds TSB first introduced mobile banking in 2008. Customers can manage their finances whilst on the move using a wide range of services that includes;

• Inter account transfers,
• Low and High Balance alerts (when clients current account balances go above or below certain pre specified levels),
• A 'near limit' alert when a customer's balance is within £50 of its account or planned overdraft limit, could help customers avoid unplanned overdraft fees,
• An 'over limit' alert is sent when a customer's balance is over its limit or if a payment can't be made because there is not enough money in the account

According to a recent survey commissioned by Lloyds TSB, just under two thirds of consumers stated that there should be more tools like mobile banking available, to help people manage money more effectively. A quarter of those surveyed said they would be motivated to use mobile banking if it were free.

The rise in online banking and similar options, such as mobile and telephony, now provides consumers with more options to manage their money than ever before. In response to this demand, the mobile banking service was made available, free for all customers from 3 August.

Customers can also benefit from more specific financial tools that should help them avoid incurring overdraft charges. These include;

• Grace period - If a customer's account goes into a planned or unplanned overdraft they have a grace period until 3.30pm the same day to pay in enough money to cover the payments and avoid any fees,
• £10 Buffer - The introduction of the fee free and interest free £10 buffer in December will help customers who dip into their overdraft by less than £10, avoid charges.

Jatin Patel, Personal Current Accounts Director, Lloyds TSB, said: "We are keen to provide our customers with a variety of tools, enabling them to take more control of their finances. Mobile banking provides the perfect way for people to manage their money on the move.

"Our decision to offer free mobile banking to everyone, from August 3 (currently £2.50 per month) should really encourage more customers to embrace the range of tools available, as well as helping them manage their finances more efficiently."

German officials barred from using BlackBerries and iPhones

Government Ministers in Germany have been advised by the government to discard BlackBerry and iPhone smartphones because of “a dramatic increase of attacks against” its networks. Besides this, a number of German ministries are considering a general ban on the use of smartphones, as confirmed by Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.

He said that ministers and senior civil servants had been told to use the Simko2 gadgets offered by T-Systems instead, following advice from the German federal office for information security (BSI).

Germany is concerned over the fact that the data for the BlackBerry smartphone passes through two Research in Motion centers in the UK and Canada.

De Maizière added that there was a possible risk of “political IT attacks” from organised crime and foreign intelligence agencies and said that such harm to the government could increase with the use of the BlackBerry and other smartphones.

"The BlackBerry infrastructure is a closed proprietary system. [But] the access standard to our networks must be determined by the government and not by a private company," he said.

Payment Innovations after the financial crisis

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently hosted its tenth annual Payments Conference. This year’s theme was “Payment Innovations in the Wake of the Financial Crisis” and its focus was emerging trends within the payments industry and new regulation following the financial upheavals of the past two years.

The participants at this year’s Payments Conference discussed how evolving technology and emerging payment products both challenge and complement legacy payments while providing opportunities for nonbank firms to compete against and collaborate with traditional payment providers—like large financial institutions and card networks. Moreover, given the flurry of recent legislation affecting the payments industry, the conference also addressed the legislation’s policy implications.

Katy Jacob and Anna Lunn discuss the conference in the latest edition of the “Chicago Fed Letter” which you can download HERE.

Reserve Bank of India is concerned that electronic transfer guidelines are being ignored

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expressed serious concerns over complaints regarding delays in affording credits as well as the return of transaction. The RBI in a circular to participants has urged participants in electronic transfer system to strictly adhere to RBI guidelines. The services involved are the various electronic payment products like Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), National Electronic Clearing Service (NECS) and Electronic Clearing Service (ECS). Member banks were also found not to be paying the required interest for delayed credits to beneficiaries’ accounts as provided for in the Procedural Guidelines. The RBI said that ‘this results in inconvenience to customers and loss of credibility in the system and adversely impact the growth of electronic payment systems in the country.

RBI said various electronic transfer systems have been growing in terms of acceptability and coverage and for increasing the pace of migration, it was essential that the credibility of the electronic payment systems was upheld and member banks using the products strictly comply with the procedural guidelines and circulars instructions issued by RBI from time to time, in both letter and spirit.

“Keeping in view the seriousness of the issue and to ensure proper and efficient management of these systems, all member banks participating in the electronic payment systems viz, RTGS, NEFT, NECS and ECS variants are advised to strictly adhere to the various provisions contained in the respective Procedural Guidelines as also instructions / circulars / guidelines issued by the RBI from time to time, while handling electronic payment system products” RBI said warning that any violation of these guidelines would attract the punitive consequences as envisaged in the relevant laws.

Stole e-banking details from laptop – repairman gets 9 months in jail

A laptop repairman who was caught on camera trying to hack into the bank account of an undercover Sky News reporter after stealing login details from her machine, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

Grzegorz Zachodni was caught in a UK Sky News sting operation into London based computer repair shops. The Sky News reporter took a laptop with a minor fault to various outlets.

A large number of personal photos of the reporter were placed on the laptop, including images of her in her underwear and bikini, along with log-in details to eBay, Facebook and NatWest online banking.

Unknown to the shop staff, the machine also had secret software installed on it which recorded all files looked at and all Webs sites visited as well as images from the computer's webcam.

Using this, it was established that during the 20 minutes he worked on the laptop, Zachodni looked at a large number of the victim's photographs as well as files marked "private" containing her log in details for Facebook, eBay and NatWest online banking.

Zachodni was recorded on the webcam removing an external USB drive from around his neck and using it to save private files containing the reporter's passwords and log in details as well as two photographs of her in a bikini.

He then made six attempts to log in to the reporter's online banking account using the details from the private files on the laptop.

Sky New passed on details of its enquiry to police and the suspect was subsequently arrested. He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and received a nine month jail term.

You can watch the original Sky News report HERE.