Featuring: Bob McDowall, Research Director, Europe

Moderator: Ralph Silva, Research Director, European Banking & Payments

Earnings season has come and gone, but what has it told us about the status of banks? This TowerGroup View podcast covers the lessons learned from the published earnings for the European Tier 1 banks. Retail banking firms are under intense pressure and as a result, IT funding is becoming a priority. European banks are focused on short-term tactical initiatives, mostly around maintenance and replacement solutions, but some banks are being more creative. After a five year hiatus, we are once again talking about shared services with some European banks leading the way back. Although recovery is still embryonic, it does appear that European banks are more willing to explore IT solutions as a method of improving customer service and manage risk, beyond that, it’s still too early for strategic thought to dominate.

Featuring: Bob McDowall, Research Director, Europe

Moderator: Ralph Silva, Research Director, European Banking & Payments

Wealth management continues to have problems with trust as clients question the credibility of banks. TowerGroup’s Bob McDowall joins us this week to continue his three part series on wealth managers. In this second installment, Bob focuses on the relationship between wealth management and the advisors, both independent and associated. Bob also discusses how technology can help improve the service levels that wealth managers provide to their customers. He believes that clients should go directly to the wealth managers and if this is to happen, wealth managers will have to bulk up their infrastructures.

Featuring: Brian Riley, Research Director, Bank Cards

Moderator: Ralph Silva, Research Director, European Banking & Payments

Visa International recently invested in mobile payment technology provider Monitise plc. Although the minority investment is of note, TowerGroup believes it is not unique and will not change the marketplace. Monitise will compete in a space with well-funded companies such as Qualcomm's Firethorn and providers such as ClairMail, mFoundry, Vivotech, and Obopay, which maintain alliances, ventures, and investments with competing networks American Express, China Union Pay, Discover Network, JCB Card, MasterCard Worldwide, and leading card-issuing banks. In this week’s TowerGroup View, Brian Riley provides insight on the impact of this investment and how it relates to the payments industry, the acquired company, and the mobile payments industry.