What we are reading … 4th February 2013

Follow The Money: Transform Your IT Supply Chain http://twb.io/XLLA1y

Migrants' billions put aid in the shade http://gu.com/p/3dedz/tw

Nearly Half Of America Is On The Brink Of Financial Disaster http://bit.ly/Xm8zBV

NFC At MIT: Which Wallets Will Win? http://www.pymnts.com/commentary/NFC-At-MIT-Which-Wallets-Will-Win/#.UQnqwBGizCc.twitter

Enthusiasm For Social Media Dampening In Financial Industry http://bit.ly/XbZgoi

Mobile banking on the rise in India http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/mobile-banking-on-the-rise-in-india/1/191851.html

Keeping Your Cash Safe During Your Next Trip http://www.mybanktracker.com/news/2013/01/29/keeping-cash-safe-journey/

Kenya: Family Bank goes live on the PesaPoint network countrywide http://shar.es/CEH3p

How Banks Can Use Mobile Banking Technology to Drive Revenue and Reduce Costs http://shar.es/CEnFV

Attention Issuers: Keep Your EMV Data Prep Where You Can See It http://dld.bz/ccVYR

Major Swiss banks 'raise bullion holding charges' http://dld.bz/ccVYN

Google Wallet gets an update, but not a reboot http://dld.bz/ccVYJ

Consumer Hypocrisy Clouds Retail Branch Strategies

“How many consumers insist on opening new accounts in branches? And yet how many never step foot in a branch again after opening their account? The numbers will surprise you.” <<READ MORE>>

Europe's businesses not prepared for looming SEPA deadline

“With the Sepa migration deadline now just a year away, Europe's businesses still have a long way to go, with only 30% of credit transfers and two per cent of direct debits compliant, according to Experian.

Last year lawmakers finally settled on a deadline of February 2014 for the switch to a Sepa (Single euro area payment) system - designed to simplify and streamline processing operations for domestic and international payments - for Eurozone countries.” <<READ MORE>>

Week in Banking: The Rush to Mobile

As banks press ahead in introducing mobile services, glitches abound. But many see phone-based banking as a game-changer as customers embrace the technology, warts and all. <<WATCH VIDEO>>

Bringing Order to the Chaos of BYOD

“When it was the de-facto business standard, BlackBerrys provided two great benefits. First, they provided new communication capabilities that transformed the way professionals work. But for the IT team, they did something even better: providing a standardized platform with great management tools. Say what you will about the BES server, you could instantly reach out and admin any device, anywhere. Its major shortcoming wasn’t that RIM failed to innovate, (though that didn’t help), it was that it was expensive and effectively an IT tax on every connected employee.” <<READ MORE>>

Why banks are likely to face more software glitches in 2013

“Recent months have seen banks and other financial services hit by a variety of software faults.
In January alone we have seen the Lloyds Banking Group's use of the Faster Payments System - designed to speed up cash transfers - hit by a glitch delaying wage and bill payments; a malfunction with PayPal's Instant Payment Notifications cause some users to face duplicate charges; and US stock exchange operator Bats Global Markets acknowledge that a "system issue" meant over 400,000 trades had failed to fulfil its best-price guarantee. The money men appear to be accident prone.” <<READ MORE>>

MAS regulator in Singapore plans ERM risk improvements

“The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) intends to improve standards for enterprise risk management (ERM) at all financial institutions (FIs) under its control, it says, as well as review the current risk-based capital regime. MAS has issued a notice of new guidelines, which are now out for public consultation and are expected to be implemented by 1 January 2014.

The risk proposals from MAS cover credit risk, market risk, internal controls, operational risks, liquidity and other risks arising from a company's membership in a group, and core insurance activities such as product development, pricing and underwriting are a particular focus. The Singaporean regulator said the rules are expected to apply to all registered insurers except captive insurers and marine mutuals.” <<READ MORE>>