Breaking Financial News

There’s some serious competition in the “deal-of-the day” arena with American Express hoping to become a legitimate contender. By offering cardholders incentives to pay with their card on money saving discounts, Groupon and LivingSocial may have a battle. And unlike the competition, the AMEX deals will not require a coupon for discounts from leading national retailers and travel providers, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Sports Authority, Westin, Travelocity and more. In addition, merchants will need no special training to redeem the discounts.

Sign onto Facebook and “like” the Link, Like, Love application, enter your information and begin to receive deals tailored to your interests, social connections and preferences on Facebook. Statement credits will be applied to card member’s accounts as they shop online or in stores without the need to pre-purchase, print or show a coupon at the point of sale.

Although the service isn’t the first of its kind, AMEX has a big advantage with its millions of cardholders, giving them a huge database of potential clients for the program.

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Tags: Contend, Contend W

Ralph Norris, chief executive of Australian banking major CBA says the biggest threat to its payments business could come from Telstra and Facebook, rather than banking rivals.

Mr. Norris made the comments when he introduced the lenders plans to launch a number of consumer applications, whilst unveiling the record $6.84 billion full year profits of the bank.

Whilst chalking up a stellar result Mr. Norris was less than sanguine about the future, warning that the world remains in the midst of a global financial crisis.

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Tags: Cba, Cba Ambitious

If Sprint gets the iPhone, it may be surprisingly good news for AT&T.

Two of Sprint’s prime arguments against AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile are that competition in the wireless market remains limited to the Big Two — Verizon Wireless and AT&T — and that Sprint is effectively locked out of getting the best handsets.

But if the iPhone lands in Sprint’s stores, Apple’s smartphone could undermine the No. 3 wireless company’s anti-merger arguments.

“I think Sprint getting the iPhone inhibits its case,” said Keith Hylton, professor at Boston University’s School of Law. “The iPhone is the gold standard in handsets now. If you have the iPhone, it becomes hard to argue that you’re locked out of the best handsets.”

Several mobile experts agreed that the biggest beneficiary of Sprint getting the iPhone could ultimately be AT&T.

“This weakens Sprint’s core argument that a duopolistic wireless market would limit consumer choice,” said Brent Iadarola, global director of research at Frost & Sullivan. Read more…

Tags: Sprint, Sprint Iphones

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has introduced mobile banking facility for its customers.

The new product has been coined ‘IndusMobile’.

“IndusMobile is a comprehensive mobile banking platform that enables our customers to manage their banking needs with incredible ease. This new application will serve as a key customer touch point that complements the bank’s physical branch network,” the IndusInd Bank Head of Consumer Banking, Mr Sumant Kathpalla said.

Features like mini statement, balance enquiry, bill payment as well as fund transfer facilities can all be accessed through IndusMobile.

The bank also happens to be the sole provider of ‘card less cash withdrawal’ facility to customers via this application, it said.

Tags: Bank, Indusind Bank