Tuesday 31 July 2012

That's the way to do it!

I have a confession to make. I've only just started to pay by contactless. Despite the fact that I've been writing about it for a number of years, its appeal has escaped me.

A recurring theme throughout the many articles and features I've worked on courtesy of Retail Systems and FStech has been that take up was being hampered by the lack of a coherent strategy between banks and retailers.

So take a bow NatWest and Marks and Spencer. The former has been increasing the number of contactless debit and credit cards in issue during 2012, with an initial focus on London and the south east. And as a customer, I can say that the information sent with the card does a very good job explaining what it's all about and selling the benefits. The latter has rolled-out contactless in its stores and made it as easy as possible for people to try this new way of paying. I'd be interested to see how many of its customers are paying in this way (probably pretty low, I'd wager), but I'm using it and if they can win over an old cynic like me, they can win over anyone.

 Dare we say it, could the revolution finally happen?

Tuesday 17 July 2012

2012 FStech/Retail Systems Payments Technology Conference update

The agenda for the 2012 FStech/Retail Systems Payments Technology Conference is beginning to take shape.
 
We've got speakers and panellists onboard from the likes of Barclays, Citi, Monitise, Consult Hyperion, Beaverbrooks, PMC, Glue Reply and IDC Financial Insights.

Taking place in London on Thursday, 1 November and chaired by Vendorcom's Paul Rodgers, this event will bring together the retail and financial services sectors to network and discuss cards and payments services, the present and future. This year, there will be a particular focus on mobile banking and payments. Senior figures from across the retail, financial services, technology vendor and telco sectors will come together to debate the key issues, innovations and barriers to the mass-market deployment of mobile. 

The 2012 website can be found here. I'm still on the look out for speakers, particularly ones from retail and financial organisations. So feel free to get in touch if you would like to take part. You can find my contact details here.
 
Meanwhile, if you would like to register to attend (it's free to retailers, financial institutions and consultants), you can do so at: www.fstech.co.uk/payments/booking_form.php
 
 

Tuesday 10 July 2012

I'm sorry, so sorry...

In an open letter published on MoneySavingExpert.com today, Stephen Hester has apologised for the RBS systems issues and explained how the Group is trying to put things right.

You can read the letter here.

Note Hester's comments about Ulster Bank. It's almost a month since the now infamous RBS IT glitch and still that bank's customers are experiencing problems. Things have become truly farcical. As I write this, the Editor of our sister title, Retail Systems, has yet to receive her wages while issues with direct debits have lead her lovely mobile provider to tell her she will be cut off if payment isn't received by next week.

"When we have finished the job of putting things right, we will also want to invite our customers to have a discussion with us about how we can do things better in the future," writes Hester. That should be an interesting discussion...

Meanwhile, MoneySavingExpert.com are sending the following message to their readers: "Bank a b*****d? Don't whinge, leave...It's hard to believe banks' reputations could get worse. But the RBS/NatWest screw-up and Barclays' moral bankruptcy have sunk them even lower. Let this be a catalyst for EVERYONE to ask: "Can I get a better bank?" Most big banks, incl Barclays and NatWest, have poor rates and bog-standard service ratings."

Followed by a link to the best deals out there. The stirrings of a revolution in retail banking? Here's hoping...

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Assessing the RBS meltdown


Guest blog post by Daniel Mayo, practice leader, financial services technology, Ovum

Whilst the specifics of what went wrong with RBS last week are still unknown, we have a good indication of the nature of the fault – a relatively minor update to the batch scheduling software failed. This is something minor on its own and easy to fix, but the problem was unfortunately exacerbated by an employee deleting the scheduling queue in his attempts to fix the problem.

Rebuilding the scheduling queue is a much lengthier and more complex process – one complicated even further by UK banks relatively large reliance on legacy systems. RBS needs a team that has a detailed understanding of the scheduling order, the core system’s processing quirks, and knowledge of older IBM assembly languages.

Assessing this scenario therefore shows two of the IT infrastructure pressures that banks face today:

First, that the shortage of skilled staff experienced in older systems is a growing operational risk that is difficult for banks to address. Senior staff with the knowledge necessary to perform complicated operations inevitably retire and new IT professionals (unsurprisingly) concentrate on newer technologies.With most banks under heavy cost pressures, relatively junior staff are often given responsibility for systems where they have little experience beyond the routine, particularly in a stress situation (as with RBS) where things go outside normal operations. This can become particularly acute in situations where maintenance of systems is outsourced or offshored, as even documentation on these systems and the kind of processes supported is hard to come by, if it even exists at all.

Secondly, the growth of mobile banking will increase pressure to reduce batch window and increase transaction volumes, further reducing room for error. The batch window largely operated fine in the old world of restricted-hour branch-based banking, where branches closed at 15:30 and at weekends. This gave IT a large “batch window” to complete processing, with time to roll-back and re-run if necessary. However in an age of online banking, and with growing uptake of mobile banking, IT is increasingly under pressure to reduce system offline time, and is being asked to run batches within a relatively tight window. This results in less room for error if things do go wrong.

In the short-term, the main response by banks will be to focus on processes and governance, to ensure that disaster handling policies are understood across all support staff. This is appropriate. However, this glitch should be a catalyst for banks to take a longer look at their core system strategies. While legacy systems may be mature and stable, at some point old age will get the better of them.

Monday 2 July 2012

Cultural change

Stephen Hester has responded to Andrew Tyrie MP, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, who last week branded the RBS computer systems meltdown as "completely unacceptable." 

You can read the response in full here.  

Note Hester's remark that, "I have previously made clear to the Committee that my top priority since joining the bank three and a half years ago has been to change RBS - physically and culturally. At the centre of this aim is to make our customers the number one focus. There is much to do on many fronts and we clearly have yet to achieve a satisfactory level of systems resilience as part of that, albeit this was a unique incident."

A unique incident? Hmmmm...Still, at least he admits that customer-centricity is very much a work in progress at RBS. As it is across the UK retail banking sector. To quote a recent tweet from one of my retail technology contacts: "I can't think of an industry that has consistently treated its customers with as much contempt as banking. Well, maybe life insurance."