In recent years the Bank of England has become a soft target for politicians. In 2022 Liz Truss, in the run-up to her very short premiership, suggested the Bank should shift from its 2% inflation target and be given an economic growth target instead. In the build-up to this general election Reform UK has floated the idea of ending the Bank of England’s practice of paying interest on deposits from commercial banks and reserves held in the course of quantitative easing.  In a rather odd coincidence, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has recently made an identical proposal. Present Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, appears much less keen to implement the idea if Labour is elected.

This article explores what such a system might entail for the Bank of England, its potential benefits and drawbacks, and draws comparisons with similar implementations by other central banks.

How would the Proposed Tiered Reserve System work?

Under the proposed tiered reserve system, the Bank of England would categorise bank reserves into different tiers with varying interest rates. A minimum required amount of reserves would earn no interest, while reserves beyond this threshold would earn interest. This system contrasts with the current uniform rate paid on all reserves at the moment.

One of the principal benefits of a tiered reserve system is cost savings for the government. By paying no interest on required reserves, the government can significantly reduce the total interest payments to banks, resulting in substantial cost savings for the Bank of England and increasing the size of the rebate the Bank pays to the UK Treasury.

In terms of monetary policy effectiveness, the interest rate on excess reserves can be adjusted to influence short-term market rates, providing the Bank of England with a more precise tool for implementing monetary policy. From a financial stability perspective, ensuring banks hold a minimum level of reserves promotes stability. Additionally, interest on excess reserves provides banks with an incentive to maintain adequate liquidity buffers, providing a buffer against financial shocks, and thereby reducing the risk of sudden bank failure.

Despite these benefits, there are potential drawbacks to consider. Implementing a tiered reserve system would require banks to adjust their reserve management strategies, which could entail costs and require significant time to adapt. While excess reserves earn interest, the required reserves do not; this might negatively impact the overall profitability of banks. Such a policy change might lead to unpredictable behavioural changes in banks, potentially concerning lending practices.

How do other Central Banks Manage Reserves?

The European Central Bank (ECB) has adopted a two-tier system for the remuneration of excess reserves. Under this system, a portion of bank reserves is exempt from the negative deposit facility rate, reducing the financial burden on banks while maintaining negative interest rates to encourage lending. This approach has mitigated the adverse effects on bank profitability and supported financial stability.

The Bank of Japan uses a similar approach which is more elaborate with a three-tier system: a positive interest rate for the Basic Balance, zero interest for the Macro Add-on Balance, and a negative rate for the Policy-Rate Balance. This system balances incentives for banks to hold necessary reserves while encouraging lending and investment to support economic growth.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) exempts a certain quantity of reserves from negative rates, similar to the ECB. This system helps protect bank profitability and ensures sufficient liquidity, while the negative rate on excess reserves discourages unnecessary reserve accumulation. Denmark’s central bank, Danmarks Nationalbank, also exempts a portion of reserves from negative rates, aligning with the strategies of the ECB and SNB. This system supports the central bank’s monetary policy while minimising negative impacts on the banking sector.

Final Thoughts…

The proposed tiered reserve system for the Bank of England would be a major shift in monetary policy implementation and reducing costs for the central bank to allow it to pay a greater return to the treasury. By differentiating interest rates on types of reserves, the Bank of England can create for itself a dual ability to incentivise panel banks to hold deposits with the central bank but further balance this with motivation for panel banks to lend money to investors and support wider economic growth. Lessons from other central banks reveal the potential complexities and impacts on bank profitability must be carefully managed.

Trading can be an exciting, yet daunting venture due to the significant risk it entails. But have you ever wondered how you can mitigate some of that risk? Free-funded accounts may just be the answer. These accounts could potentially unlock doors to trading more extensive markets with substantially fewer monetary risks.

What are Free Funded Accounts?

A free-funded account is a means for individual traders to participate in financial markets without risking their own capital. These are essentially accounts provided by proprietary trading firms (also known as prop firms) that offer their traders ample leverage to buy and sell assets. The goal here is to generate returns that benefit both the trader and the prop firm.

The concept behind these accounts is simple. You prove your trading prowess through a series of challenges or assessments, and if you're successful, the prop firm provides you access to one of their funded accounts. The best part is that you don't need to put your own money on the line.

These free-funded accounts can yield substantial benefits beyond risk mitigation. For example, they empower traders to gain exposure to broader market conditions and provide opportunities to amplify their earnings significantly compared to if they were leveraging their own capital exclusively.

If this propelled your curiosity and made you wonder how to get a free funded account, read on!

Eligibility for Free Funded Accounts

Various prop firms have different eligibility criteria for their free-funded accounts. Therefore, it becomes crucial for aspiring traders to meticulously go through the specific requirements before diving headfirst into the process. 

Despite these differences, some necessary qualifications include age specifications (typically 18 years or older), having a secure internet connection, possessing a real-time trading platform, and demonstrating a good understanding of financial markets.

One critical aspect that you must be aware of is the trading challenge. Prop firms like Maverick Trading mandate their prospects to complete these challenges as proof of their trading competency before they can gain access to a funded account.

Lastly, some prop firms require traders to take up and complete an educational course pertinent to trading. For instance, TopStepTrader runs its program to demonstrate the foundational trading skills needed to guide its members through live market sessions.

Note: confirm with your chosen prop firm about the exact specifications for free-funded accounts. It varies from one prop firm to another!

Registering 

Now that you've understood what free funded accounts are and whether you qualify for them let's dive into registration. Firstly, choose a reputable prop firm that offers free funded accounts. Some notable names include RebelsFunding.com, Earn2Trade, OneUp Trader, and FTMO.

Once you’ve chosen the firm, proceed with signing up on their website where you'd need to provide relevant personal information like full name, contact details, and possibly some insight into your trading experience. Expect to answer questions related to your preferred style of trading or your comprehension of risk management tools.

Be prepared to pay a refundable fee should you opt out during the evaluation or fail on the first attempt that most of these firms charge. Nonetheless, this modest fee pales compared to the potential losses you might incur had you been trading with your capital without proper guidance and expertise.

In case you are unsure which firm to go with or how much risk you can handle, take help from professionals familiar with the industry!

Navigating the Application Process

The application process usually comes next, which involves a series of steps, the first one often being the Evaluation phase. This is the trading challenge where you prove your competence by managing a practice account and achieving specific profit targets while staying within prescribed limits.

During this period, firms like Forex Signals require candidates to follow strict trading guidelines that are put in place to help them foster valuable habits like discipline and patience. Traders at this stage need to demonstrate their capacity to manage risk effectively.

On successful completion of this phase, your performance will be reviewed in detail before you are offered a live funded account if deemed eligible! The prop firm will track your progress closely, ensuring you are taking reasonable risks and making savvy trading decisions.

The point of this process is not just about coming out with profits but demonstrating a deep understanding of risk management. It's said that 'making money is straightforward; preventing losses isn't,' and these prop firms expect nothing less from their traders.

Managing Funded Accounts

Once you've unlocked the free funded account, remember that it's just the beginning. Now comes the part of managing these accounts smartly, which is just as crucial as earning them.

Just because you aren't trading with your capital doesn't mean you can toss caution to the wind. Prudence remains key here — make sure to follow the risk management guidelines communicated by the prop firm since flouting these could lead to penalties or even cancellation of your funded account!

The money made using a free-funded account is usually split between the trader and the firm, often with varying percentage allocations depending on performance. But bear in mind that despite this split, traders can still earn substantial profits if they handle the free-funded account prudently!

Your journey doesn't end once you unlock one funded account. You get to scale up and unlock larger accounts based on your performance. For example, TopstepTrader allows traders who meet or exceed profit targets to size up their funded accounts!

Types of Free Funded Accounts

Prop firms offer several types of free-funded accounts to accommodate the range of trading strategies their traders might employ. Exploring these can help you determine which would complement your individual trading paradigm most effectively.

For instance, some common variants include Forex-funded accounts and Futures-funded accounts. The former enables traders to buy or sell currency pairs with the backing of the prop firm's capital. Popular platforms are FTMO and The5%ers, where traders can access up to $200,000 for trading forex.

On the other hand, Futures funded accounts involve speculating on the price movements of commodities or securities at a predetermined date in the future. Notably, OneUp Trader and Tradenet are known for providing this type of account. It's essential to understand these variations thoroughly before choosing your path.

Risks 

While free-funded accounts provide an avenue for risk mitigation and potential profit amplification, they aren't completely devoid of risks themselves. Engaging in any form of trading, including using a prop firm's capital, involves a level of risk-taking.

The potential fluctuations in market prices remain a constant factor of uncertainty that could influence your trades negatively. Additionally, there's also the aspect of 'over-trading' - carried away by the thrill of leveraging someone else's capital, some traders tend to over-trade resulting in unnecessary losses.

If a trader consistently fails to meet the prop firm's set profit targets or breaches their risk management guidelines, there's the threat of having their funded account revoked. Therefore, traders need to exercise discipline and prudent trading tactics to effectively navigate these risks.

Benefits 

Free funded accounts offer numerous benefits making them an appealing proposition for savvy traders. Obviously, one primary advantage is mitigating personal financial risk – a trader doesn't have to commit his funds to market positions.

Besides that, having a larger capital pool at their disposal via funded accounts enables traders to explore more extensive and diverse markets that they otherwise might not have access to using solely their capital.

Moreover, as prop firms mentor and scrutinize their traders' manoeuvres closely, this fosters valuable trading habits among them that can dramatically enhance their overall trading prowess. One such indispensable habit is effective risk management - a trait highly valued in financial trading industries.

Maximizing Profit 

Succeeding with a free funded account necessitates smart strategies that not only align with market trends but also with the proprietary firm's policies. Forbes explains how savvy risk management combined with strategic trading can significantly bolster your profits.

For example, adopting varying degrees of leverage based on market volatility helps maintain a balance between potential gains and losses. Also, maintaining a diversified portfolio can minimize risk and possibly increase profit margins.

Another essential hack is strictly adhering to stop-loss limits. This could safeguard your positions from any unforeseen volatility or drastic shifts in market dynamics.

The key here is consistent learning and adapting since what works today might not necessarily work tomorrow in the ever-changing landscape of financial markets!

Trading Strategies 

A crucial aspect of Excel in trading funded accounts is to embrace a robust strategy that enhances your profitability while reducing the propensity for loss. As described by Investopedia, these can range from straightforward to complex techniques.

Scalping is a frequently used strategy by traders that entails making numerous small trades throughout the day. The aim here is to accumulate many minor profits rather than aiming for one major windfall.

A contrasting strategy is 'Swing Trading' where traders look for trends or patterns in markets and place trades accordingly, often holding positions overnight. This helps them capitalize on larger price movements over longer periods and potentially enjoy bigger profits.

Choosing an appropriate strategy requires understanding its suitability to your risk tolerance level, time commitment to trading, and knowledge of market technicals!

Conclusion

Free-funded accounts substantially boost your trading potential by minimizing personal financial risks while maximizing trading scope. It's crucial to understand different types of accounts, various inherent risks, benefits offered by such accounts, effective strategies for trading, and ways to maximize returns.

Today, thanks to digital leaps, our banking tasks are as simple as sending a text. A great example? Getting a credit card free of any cost. It used to be a maze of paperwork and patience. Now, with banks like Kotak Mahindra, it's a breeze. A few taps, and a bit of typing, and you're set.

Why Opt for Kotak Mahindra for Your Credit Card?

Choosing where to get your credit card is a bit like choosing a dining spot. You'd pick a reliable place, that offers variety, and perhaps gives great discounts. That's Kotak Mahindra Bank for you in the banking world. They're not just any bank; they've earned their stripes and trust over the years. Their credit card options? There’s something for everyone. The ease, the benefits - it's a choice you'll thank yourself for.

Eligibility Criteria Comes First

Think of getting a credit card like planning a trip. You wouldn't just hop on a plane without checking visa requirements, right? Similarly, before shooting off that credit card application, there are some boxes to tick. For starters, banks, including Kotak Mahindra, have a set of eligibility criteria. This usually revolves around your age, income bracket, and sometimes, the city you reside in. Then there's the paperwork. It's not as tedious as it sounds, promise. Keep handy proof of identity, address, and recent income statements, and you're good to go.

Securing Your Kotak Credit Card in Just Three Steps

Getting your hands on a Kotak credit card isn’t some long, drawn-out epic. It's more like a short story, with just three concise chapters:

#1 - The Online Advantage:

It starts on Kotak Mahindra Bank's sleek website or its user-friendly app. Look out for the credit card section, dive in, and key in the specifics they ask for. It’s mostly basics like your name, occupation, and income details.

#2 - Documentation Needed:

Remember the prerequisites we talked about? This is where they come into play. Kotak Mahindra Bank offers a smooth ride here. You can either upload scanned copies of the required docs directly or, if you're a tad traditional or just love human touch, schedule a doorstep pickup. A representative will swing by, collect what's needed, and give you a smile to boot. The mantra? Keep things crisp and clear for a seamless verification process.

#3 - The Approval Process:

Once you've hit that 'submit' or ‘credit card online apply’ button, behind the scenes, Kotak Mahindra Bank's efficient systems are bustling. They're assessing your details, making sure everything aligns. If all's good, you'll get a nod of approval in no time. And before you know it, your brand new credit card is zipping its way to you. The wait isn’t long, and once it's with you, activation is a cinch.

Key Features of Kotak Credit Cards

A Kotak credit card is packed with features to help you in nearly every financial situation. Firstly, every time you swipe, you aren't just paying; you're earning too. With every purchase, reward points stack up, waiting to be redeemed. And if that isn't enough, some sweet cashback offers come your way. Think of it as a little "thank you" for every transaction.

Furthermore, if you're a shopaholic, you'll relish the special deals. Kotak Mahindra Bank's partnerships with brands bring exclusive discounts right to your fingertips. And fear not, with Kotak, security isn’t an afterthought. The bank equips its cards with advanced protective features. Should you ever hit a snag, their customer support jumps into action, ready to steer things right.

Squeeze the Most Out of Your Kotak Credit Card

Owning a Kotak credit card is like having a ticket to an exclusive club. But, you'll want to strut in and use all its facilities. For starters, use the card responsibly. It's tempting to go on a spree, but timely payments ensure you reap the benefits without drowning in debt.

When Kotak Mahindra Bank rolls out those exciting promotional offers, take them up! They're designed to give you maximum value. And here's a pro tip: Link your card with your Kotak Mahindra savings account. Not only does it make payments a breeze, but it also lets you monitor and manage your finances seamlessly. It's like having your cake and eating it too!

Conclusion

The banking world is in a state of constant flux, moving from crowded queues to a few clicks. It's an era of convenience. And in this digital parade, a Kotak Credit Card isn't just a participant; it's leading the march. Look it up, apply now, and let Kotak elevate your banking journey to levels unimagined.

They’ve gone up from 3% to 3.5%. This is the ninth time in a row they’ve been hiked.

This increase will result in higher mortgage payments for property owners and people who’ve taken out loans. It comes at a time when everyone across the country is faced with the cost-of-living crisis – right before the Christmas holidays.

Inflation is currently sitting at 10.7% in the country – or over 5 times higher than the 2% target. However, it has slightly eased since November.

Andrew Bailey, Bank of England Governor, said it was the "first glimmer" that soaring price rises were starting to come down but there was still "a long way to go".

Accelerated by the pandemic and empowered by the latest technological advancements, it has quickly entered people’s lives and aligned with the demands of businesses. 

Statista predicts that the number of US citizens using digital banks will hit 216.8 million. Among the reasons why consumers turn to online banking are the ease of use, security, and extensive banking capabilities available within their favorite solutions. 

The concept of digital banking admits easy and swift money management, performing fund transfers and online transactions, payments automation, and more. Modern banking solutions provide the ability to operate with digital currencies, introduce asset management, and provide comprehensive lending options.

The reasons for developing digital banking platforms are many. Let’s figure out what the process of financial mobile app development is like and how to start an online bank.

A quick overview of the digital banking market

The market for FinTech services is growing exponentially, and it’s projected that by the end of 2022, more than 65 percent of the US population will be banking online. 

The target audience for digital banks

Taking into account their lifestyles and aspirations, Millenials and Gen Z representatives are considered to be the most active mobile banking users. At the same time, the share of online banking users aged 50+ has also grown in recent years.

While Millennials turn to online banking to make the most of online transactions, peer-to-peer transfers, and cashback, the representatives of older generations may benefit from obtaining information about bank products, receiving mobile payments, and tracking their balances online.

So, deciding on the audience to target with your banking product, you better take into account the needs of different age groups.

Popular online banking solutions

Some banks make digitalization a part of their transformation strategy and FinTech businesses provide digital banking without having any brick-and-mortar branches behind. The latter is often called neobanks or digital-only banks. To operate legally, they partner with bank license issuers and distribute virtual and physical cards just like traditional banks do.

Among the most popular banking solutions that provide digital services are:

• Chime is the US most popular neobank that allows its customers to open deposit and debit cards, view their credit history, easily withdraw cash, automate savings, and more.
• Wise is not purely a mobile bank, but a system offering electronic money accounts. It offers international and domestic money transfers, provides debit cards, and provides options to operate with different types of currencies.
• N26 is a German digital bank that evolved from a startup and is now functioning in more than 50 countries. For users, its capabilities include direct deposits, international fund transfers, and personal finance management.
• Monzo is a popular neobank from the UK. Their services include p2p transfers, splitting the bills, easy budget tracking, digital loans, and many more.

Each success story has a tedious formation process and hours of work behind it. Now, let’s figure out how to develop a digital bank.

How can you develop a digital bank?

Banking software development requires a deep knowledge of the market. This includes understanding the legal part, complying with the industry requirements, and bringing to the table hands-on technical knowledge.

Getting started with digital banking, make sure you’ve figured out the things to do first and have in place all the assets to get you covered.

Among the challenges you may face on this way are:

• Building product architecture requires involving a Business Analyst and a Solution Architect. Together with the stakeholders, they are to decide which of the architecture types (monolith, microservices, or layered) better aligns with the technical requirements and business goals.
• Choosing the right technology stack you need to mind the time to market, a long-term development strategy, and the risks to mitigate.
• Ensuring all-around security is a must for applications that deal with sensitive data. This means every Fintech solution is subject to introducing enhanced security measures like introducing secure authentication, developing dedicated encryption and data storage systems, and following KYC (Know Your Customer) principles.
• Achieving regulatory compliance means developing and following a set of principles related to risk mitigation, data reliability, and user data processing.

Clearly understanding your business goals, following the security best practices, and partnering with a reliable financial software development services provider are the key principles for creating a successful digital solution.

Must-have features of digital banking apps

Deciding on the features to add when you start a digital bank, it’s essential to understand the needs of your audience. Think of the ways to realize your ideas and evaluate the resources you can count on to implement the desired functionality.

Consider starting with the product MVP and then gradually rolling out additional features. This approach will help you meet the time and budget constraints and evaluate your success on the go. 

Most mobile banking solutions are equipped with the following must-have features:

• Login and authorization
• Account management
• Transaction management
• Fund transfer
• Digital payments including P2P
• Notifications
• Support

With this basic functionality, your application can soon evolve into one of the custom banking solutions providing its users with:

• Expense tracking functionality
• Cashback system
• Digital loan capabilities
• Insurance options
• Tips on investment management
• Integration with digital wallet services and more.

How to monetize your digital banking app

So, how do you make money from developing a digital bank? 

As a rule, FinTech solution providers get some profit from:

1. money on cards, which is getting some share from customer deposits;
2. transactions, meaning that a part of the interchange fee is split between the card network (Visa, Master Card) and the bank card issuer.

You may also consider offering a part of your banking functionality as a premium tier, adding some insurance options, increasing your product LTV by introducing BankID, and targeting your customers with PPC advertising.

Providing your customers with real value and adjusting your solution as their needs change with the product change is a winning strategy you should take with you when developing a digital bank.

Cohen is a protege of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. In 2010, Cohen went on to establish technology incubator Jigsaw. His recruitment is the most recent step taken by Goldman Sachs to inject a technology focus into the bank. 

Cohen is set to lead the group, known as the Office of Applied Innovation, alongside co-chief information officer George Lee. 

“Working closely with leaders across Goldman Sachs, George and Jared will specifically identify and advance commercial opportunities for the firm that are at the intersection of a changing global marketplace, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and rapidly evolving technology,” Solomon said. 

Cohen will be joining New York-based Goldman Sachs at its senior-most rank, serving as a partner, management committee member and also as president of global affairs.

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Well, a BIN is the first 6 digits of a credit or debit card number. For example, if your credit card number is 1234 5678 9000 0000, then the BIN would be 1234 56. Now, these numbers have a purpose because they can identify the issuing bank, card brand, card type, card level, and country of a credit card. Now that you know what a BIN can identify, how do you use it?

1. Use A BIN Checker 

There are several online BIN checkers that can check your BIN code and give you all the information you need. Since the BIN is only information about the bank, and the rest of the numbers on the credit card are numbers for your account, you don’t need to worry about your data being breached.

Just look for a BIN database and see what comes up, and then type in your first six numbers to collect all the information you need. You can check here to find a good bank identification number search service, and start learning more about where your card came from.

2. Analyse The Numbers Yourself

If you don’t want to put information from your credit card online, then you can focus on analysing the first number yourself to find some of the information. The first digit of the BIN on your credit card shows the card issuers industry, or where the card came from. Most banking and financial cards have 4 or 5 as the first digit, so you should have that as well.

Sadly, the remaining numbers of the BIN cannot be understood yourself, and you will need to use some type of online checker.

3. Talk To Your Bank

Of course, you can go back to the bank where you have set up your account(s) and ask them for help in figuring out your BIN. The staff will be happy to help you find the information you need, and then you can continue your transactions.

What Do Bank Identification Numbers Do For You?

The BIN number is actually your first line of defence against fraud and it ensures that all of your transactions go through. The electronic payment processing system uses the BIN to help connect the merchant you are buying from, the payment processor, the issuing bank, and then the merchant’s bank. The BIN is checked and if it is verified, then the payment goes through.

The rest of the numbers on your card is your bank account number, which is then accessed to draw money out of the card and complete the transaction.

If you type in your BIN wrong whenever you are making an online transaction, then the payment can be declined because the processing system detects fraud. Nearly every single type of card has them, and they help you out every single time you make a payment. Because no card issuers have the same BIN numbers, it is very easy to tell if fraud is happening with that specific card.

The BIN Is Easy But Important

Taking the time to enter your BIN into an online checker is going to help you out because you will find everything you need within a few seconds, and then you can have more information about your bank and your card.

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According to Experian data, 22% of American adults have personal loans. A personal loan is an in-demand type of loan. So many lenders offer it, making it accessible to the general public. If you’re interested in getting one, there are various things you need to know first, such as where to get it and how. Below are the lenders that offer personal loans, information about how you can attain them, and the terms they might have.

Banks

Banks are always the first option to getting a personal loan. It's because most banks offer a variety of loans, and most to-be borrowers have bank accounts. About 95% of American households have or have access to a bank account. Taking out a personal loan from a bank where you have your account is highly recommended. Since you have transacted with the bank, they already have your records, and signing up for a loan will be easier. 

There are typically two ways to obtain a personal loan from banks. You can apply either onsite, online, or a combination of both. You may be directed to a loan officer on site, who will discuss the process and the terms should you qualify for the loan. You can also sign up online by looking up at their site, filling out a loan application form, or whatever is instructed by the site, and waiting for further instructions.

While banks can make the process convenient for their clients, you need to see that you fit specific qualifications. For example, they might tell you that you need a specific credit score to qualify, or you will be charged a higher interest rate if you have a low debt-to-income ratio. Having a good credit history will give you better deals for your loan.

Credit Unions

A credit union is another lender that can provide you with secured and unsecured personal loans. It is a non-profit financial organisation that is built upon the profits of the owners and its members. Banks offer various financial services, including loans, although the specifics may vary from one credit union to another.

You can get a loan from credit unions on one condition: you have to be a member. The services they offer are commonly exclusive to members since they are the ones who put money into the institution. Upon joining, they are also granted an account, giving them access to pool their money and avail of the financial services offered. You can apply and keep track of the loan through that account. Depending on how the credit union operates, you can apply for a loan either by visiting their office or online. You will be catered to with hands-on negotiations regarding how much you need to loan, your interest rate, and for how long you will be repaying the borrowed money plus interest.

Credit unions have an advantage over other giant lenders because they do not charge taxes and need only enough funding for their regular daily transactions. With this, you may be charged a lower interest rate, which helps save money than transacting with other lenders.

Lending Companies

As the name suggests, they are financial institutions that specialise in offering loans. The qualifications are typically the same as other lenders like banks, but most lending companies have less strict standards, making it more accessible. You can apply either onsite or online with these companies.

Several lending companies operate and let you transact with them through the internet for your convenience. Depending on the lender's terms, you can transact with them in the quickest way possible and get the money within minutes. However, before you begin any transaction with a company without prior experience, you have to think of two things: the legitimacy of the company and the availability in your area. 

First, you need to make sure that lenders of your choice are legitimate. Second, check or contact a government agency to do so or spot signs of a scam, such as an unsecured website, unresponsive contact details, or zero reviews.

The next thing you need to check is whether they are available in your area or not. An easy way to do so is to google for available lenders plus your location. For example, you can search for lenders in Birmingham or apply for Birmingham personal loans online.

To Conclude

You can get personal loans from several lenders like banks, credit unions, and lending companies. You need to find the right one for you and make sure that you can fulfil their terms and pay back what you owe.

James von Moltke has been CFO and a member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank since July 2017. After graduating from New College, Oxford, James worked at Credit Suisse for three years, followed by ten years at JP Morgan in both New York and Hong Kong. James then joined Morgan Stanley, where he led the Financial Technology Advisory Team. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, James was Treasurer of Citigroup.

James serves on a number of industry bodies. He is a member of the Exchange Councils of Eurex and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and represents Deutsche Bank on the Executive Board of the Deutsche Aktieninstitut eV (German Equity Institute). James also serves on the Steering Committee on Regulatory Capital of the Institute of International Finance. This year, as the financial industry’s transition away from LIBOR gathers pace, James was appointed Chair of the Euro Risk-Free Rates Working Group of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

James, who was born in Heidelberg, serves on the Boards of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the Atlantik-Brücke eV (Atlantic Bridge), and the Centre for Financial Studies, part of the Goethe University in Frankfurt. 

James, why did you join Deutsche Bank?

Throughout my professional career, I have been passionate about helping to lead organisations through times of change. As Treasurer of Citigroup, for example, with responsibility for capital, funding and liquidity, I was able to support a fundamental restructuring of the organisation in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008-9. Coming to Deutsche Bank in 2017, I met a dynamic new management team committed to tackling the challenges facing the organisation. This culminated in the radical transformation programme which we launched in July of 2019 and are currently executing.

This also gave me a chance to contribute my international experience at a leading European financial institution, the market leader in my native Germany. Deutsche Bank is Germany’s leading bank with strong European roots and a global network – the only German bank identified as a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) by the Financial Stability Board. Since its founding in 1870, Deutsche Bank has supported German industry both at home and across the globe. Acting as a trusted adviser and risk manager, Deutsche Bank has built relationships with corporate, institutional and private clients which have flourished over multiple generations. We’re building on this tradition and shaping this bank for the future – and that’s an exciting mission to be part of.

What is the background for Deutsche Bank’s transformation strategy?

In launching our transformation strategy, we set out to resolve several key challenges. We needed to improve profitability, reduce costs, instil greater discipline in capital allocation, reduce leverage, and at the same time sharpen our focus on building sustainable relationships with our most important clients. Our response to these challenges was the most fundamental restructuring of Deutsche Bank in the past two decades. We set ourselves an ambitious timeframe for execution: we aim to complete this transformation in three and a half years from our launch in mid-2019, so by the end of 2022.

And what are the objectives of the transformation?

We focused our transformation strategy on four fundamental goals:

• To refocus Deutsche Bank around four client-centric core businesses, by exiting businesses making inadequate returns and sharpening our focus on key clients. These four businesses form a clearly-delineated ‘Core Bank’;
• To restructure in order to become more efficient, particularly in our infrastructure – reducing operating costs by around €6 billion from 2018 levels while continuing to invest in technology, controls and growth opportunities;
• To reinvigorate the bank’s traditional entrepreneurial spirit under the leadership of a new management team, with faster decision-making, disciplined execution and cultural change;
• To free up capital by winding down assets committed to non-core activities, thereby helping Deutsche Bank self-fund transformation. This paves the way for us to return € 5 billion of capital to shareholders from 2022 onwards. To achieve this, we set up a dedicated Capital Release Unit, separate from the Core Bank, with clear targets for asset reduction.

We also set ourselves clear financial targets for 2022. These included a post-tax Return on Tangible Equity of 8%, and above 9% in our Core Bank; a cost/income ratio of 70% and maintaining a Common Equity Tier 1 (‘CET1’) capital ratio of at least 12.5% throughout the transformation process.

What are your priorities in Deutsche Bank’s core businesses?

We set ourselves clear objectives for each of the Core Bank’s four businesses:

• We placed a new Corporate Bank at the heart of our business. We’re building on deep roots in our German home market to become the bank of choice for corporate treasurers in our key markets. We switched from a product-led to a client-led coverage model, and we’re growing our online digital offering;
• We focused our Investment Bank around core strengths - businesses where we have leading positions, including financing, fixed income and debt capital markets. That includes exiting from Equities trading, resizing our core Rates platform and winding down non-strategic assets;
• Our Private Bank is the clear leader in Europe’s largest economy. We’re focused on expanding our global wealth management and digital banking capabilities while reaping the synergy benefits from our merger with Deutsche Postbank. We aim to counter the impact of low-interest rates by growing loans and assets under management;
• In Asset Management, our objective is to build DWS, our Asset Management subsidiary floated in 2018, into a global top-10 asset manager. We aim to achieve this by leveraging our commanding market share in Germany, seizing opportunities to grow in Asia and leveraging strategic partnerships to expand our distribution and product expertise.

In the middle of a global pandemic, that’s an ambitious agenda. What progress have you made so far?

The pandemic forced us to transfer around 70% of Deutsche Bank’s staff – more than 60,000 people – to working from home in a matter of days. Despite that, we’re on track with our strategic and financial objectives:

• We have significantly improved profitability. In the first half of 2021, we generated the best first half-year profits since 2015, with all four core businesses contributing to year-on-year profit growth. Both our cost/income ratio and Return on Tangible Equity are well on track towards our 2022 targets.
• We have reduced operating costs significantly. We have achieved fourteen consecutive quarters of year-on-year reductions in our underlying cost base. Adjusted for transformation-related effects, costs are running at around €1 billion per quarter lower than in early 2018.
• We have cut more than € 200 billion of balance sheet related to non-core activities. Our Capital Release Unit has cut leverage exposure by around 75%, or € 217 billion. Risk-weighted assets have been reduced by more than half to € 32 billion, thereby already meeting our year-end 2022 target.
• We have kept our capital strong. During the eight quarters of the transformation programme so far, our Common Equity Tier 1 ratio has remained comfortably above our threshold of at least 12.5%, despite the twin challenges of transformation-related costs and risk-weighted asset inflation driven by regulatory changes. Our CET1 ratio currently stands at 13.2%.
• Our sharpened focus on clients is paying off. Our Investment Bank has made market share gains in key areas of strength. Our Corporate Bank has successfully launched initiatives to expand our offering in growing business areas like payments. Our Private Bank has offset deposit margin compression with growth in both new client loans and inflows into investment products. Over the past twelve months, our Asset Management business has attracted € 45 billion in net new money from clients and assets under management have grown by € 114 billion to a record high of € 859 billion.

How important is sustainable finance for Deutsche Bank’s future setup?

Deutsche Bank is absolutely committed to sustainable finance, both within our own operations and in helping our clients on the path to meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We have set clear targets for financing and investment in environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities, both at the Group level and for each core business. In the eighteen months up to June 2021, our cumulative volumes of ESG financing and investment reached nearly € 100 billion – halfway to our goal of at least € 200 billion by the end of 2023. Deutsche Bank serves on the Sustainable Finance Committee of the German Government and is a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance and other industry bodies. Our commitment to a more sustainable Deutsche Bank is also supported by our key stakeholders: Moody’s Investor Services, the leading rating agency which recently upgraded Deutsche Bank’s credit ratings, made clear that “DB’s sharpened focus on sustainability and attention to fast-evolving environmental, social and governance standards are credit positive.”

Deutsche Bank is absolutely committed to sustainable finance, both within our own operations and in helping our clients on the path to meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

What role has the Finance function played in Deutsche Bank’s transformation?

Finance has played and continues to play, a vital role in planning, designing, enabling and funding Deutsche Bank’s historic transformation. In several ways, we have redesigned Finance’s processes, our ways of working and our culture in order to help the bank reach its goals. Some of Finance’s key contributions were:

• Re-focusing Deutsche Bank around core businesses. Finance led the analysis which identified businesses or activities not generating adequate returns and led the due diligence on business exits – for example, transferring Global Prime Finance to another leading European bank, which offers continuity for clients and core employees. We were instrumental in setting up the Capital Release Unit and re-engineered our reporting around the bank’s new segmental structure.
• Instilling a culture of accountability and delivery. Finance spearheaded the introduction of Balanced Scorecards, initially for Management Board members and progressively further rolled out across around 300 of the bank’s senior leaders. This established a transparent, verifiable link between objectives, actual performance, and senior executive compensation. We re-engineered the planning and quarterly review process to reinforce management discipline and identify potential issues at an early stage. This owed much to the efforts of Rebecca Short, then Head of Planning and Performance Management, who has now been elected to the Management Board as Chief Transformation Officer.
• Transforming Deutsche Bank’s cost culture. Finance launched a multi-year Cost Catalyst programme, harnessing employee ideas and contributing hundreds of millions of euros in annualised cost savings. We set up and co-led an External Spend Council to manage around € 9 billion of annual spending with external vendors, driving better deals with external providers and reducing fragmentation in our vendor base. We rolled out Driver-Based Cost Management, which gives managers in our businesses more transparency on drivers of their infrastructure costs. That enables them to make better-informed spending decisions.
• Helping managers make better, faster decisions: from monthly to daily close. Finance is radically accelerating our close process from monthly to daily. We’re re-engineering six general ledgers into a single, state-of-the-art general ledger platform that is compatible with Cloud and other technology environments. We’ll make a step-change in straight-through processing, and produce faster, more accurate information at a lower cost with better data quality. Given the upheavals caused by COVID-19, it’s been crucial for our leaders to make fast and accurate decisions based on high-quality, up-to-date information.
• Funding transformation and supporting balance sheet strength. Growing recognition for Deutsche Bank’s progress and supportive capital market conditions enabled our Treasury team, led by Group Treasurer Dixit Joshi, to get ahead of our capital market funding plan. In 2021 to date, we have completed nine successful issues of senior debt or Additional Tier 1 (AT1) and Tier 2 capital. This strengthened Deutsche Bank’s capital and funding base by € 11 billion at favourable prices. We have also supported the bank’s sustainability agenda, issuing two green bonds to support clients’ sustainable activities. This year, we issued a Diversity and Inclusion Bond in partnership with co-underwriters led by minority groups and service-disabled veterans. In commenting on its recent upgrade of Deutsche Bank’s credit ratings, Moody’s made clear that strong capital and liquidity were positive factors.
• Installing rigorous ESG performance management. Companies across the world are striving to reinforce their sustainability credentials, so disciplined performance management is all-important. There can be no place for ‘greenwashing’, or indeed ‘greenwishing’ – that is, setting grandiose targets with no clear monitoring of delivery against them. Under the leadership of Gerald Podobnik, CFO of the Corporate Bank and Co-Chair of the bank’s Sustainability Council, Finance has installed performance management systems to monitor delivery on targets which are near-term, granular, based on a clear ESG taxonomy, verified independently of the businesses, and directly linked to senior executive compensation. Our aim is simple: to ensure that the transition to a more sustainable Deutsche Bank is verifiable, transparent, and rigorously managed.
• Working in more agile ways. We’re adopting agile methodologies in many areas across Finance. That means working more closely in teams with our partners in Technology, being less monolithic but more frequent in our systems releases, and giving our people the opportunity to drive change and take responsibility for it. In a matter of months, we doubled the proportion of our Change budget which is delivered through agile methodologies.

“Barclays and Mr Jes Staley, Group Chief Executive, were made aware on Friday evening of the preliminary conclusions from the FCA and the PRA of their investigation into Mr Staley’s characterisation to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays’ response to the FCA,” the statement said.

“In view of those conclusions, and Mr Staley’s intention to contest them, the Board and Mr Staley have agreed that he will step down from his role as Group Chief Executive and as a director of Barclays.”

Barclays pointed out that the investigation had not found that its CEO “saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein’s alleged crimes.” Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on child sex-trafficking charges but hung himself a month later in a Manhattan federal prison. 

Subject to regulatory approval, C.S Venkatakrishnan is set to take on the role of Group Chief Executive in place of Staley with immediate effect. The bank has said it is confident that under Venkatakrishnan’s leadership, it will “continue its strategic direction and improve performance in line with the progress of recent years.”

Chief executive of Westpac, Brian Hartzer plans to step down next week after the bank was sued by Australian regulators for an alleged 23 million breaches of counter-terrorism and money laundering regulations involving $11bn worth of transactions.

Controversy has also risen surrounding the $2.7 million payout Hartzer will receive, as confirmed by Westpac last week.

BBC reports that the majority of the infractions involved late reporting of overseas transactions, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) claims it has also linked several of the transactions to "child exploitation risks". Westpac, also the oldest bank in Australia, allegedly failed to monitor the accounts of an Australian convicted sex offender who had been sending money over to the Philippines.

The bank’s chairman, Lindsay Maxsted has rejected the notion that more board members at the bank should be axed and

The Australian government has described the reported breaches as “very serious” and the Labor opposition spokesman, Jim Chalmers, says the failures of Westpac are "nothing short of disgraceful.”

The Which Group recently published a study [1]stating that the UK banking sector was hit by IT outages on a daily basis in the last nine months of 2018, with 302 reported failures. The major banks had suffered at least one incident apiece every two weeks. This is a highly concerning statistic that exposes the fact that bank outages and IT issues occur much more often than was previously thought[2]. And the impact can cause significant setbacks, financial and otherwise. In one recent example[3], a major bank suffered an outage with costs amounting to over £330 million.

Nick Coleman, Channel Director EMEA of Virtual Instruments, explains why this is happening and what the issues surrounding this trend are.

Regulatory pressure

Firstly, banks are now obliged to report any IT issues to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), (and, as in the case of Which, using this data to form their report), IT problems are much more visible. There is greater recognition than ever before on how much serious disruption can be caused by IT outages at financial services institutions for people and businesses. The FCA now regards IT system performance as more important than staff performance. So if a member of staff is signed off of work, it is considered normal business, but if an IT system fails to deliver, it is viewed as a violation. Under regulations enforced by the FCA in August 2018, banks and financial services have to report on how they recover from outages within three months and have been mandated with a maximum acceptable time for systems to be down. They are so reliant on IT systems, it is critical that they take the necessary steps to ensure the business can get back up and running as soon as possible after an outage.

Infrastructure complexity

Secondly, knowing the true root cause of problems before taking any action is key, but a lack of proper infrastructure visibility is preventing banks from effectively managing the situation. With the inherent complexity of today’s hybrid infrastructure brought about by new procurements layered over legacy systems that are not necessarily cohesive, interoperability issues often ensue. The knock-on effects of systems fighting for resources during busy periods can cause latency issues, in turn seriously affecting the performance of business-critical applications. Here, it is not a matter of if, but when.

Over the years, peoples’ perception as to the value of the IT infrastructure has eroded in the eyes of the business.

With digital transformation, IT systems are now beyond human comprehension and require automation and AI-powered IT operations management (AIOps[4]), also known as ‘algorithmic IT operations’, to run efficiently. Unfortunately, IT doesn’t have the investment or influence at board level that it should put the proper performance safeguards and assurances into place. The business insists that their customer-facing applications run as planned, but don’t really care who runs the IT infrastructure for them. They see the infrastructure as an overhead rather than a vital, profit-generating differentiator, giving a competitive advantage.

Lack of performance benchmarks in the cloud

Thirdly, the banking sector has been advised to embrace the cloud and is struggling to migrate applications, often written in the 1980s and 1990s, to a new platform. The cloud suppliers are reluctant to provide a service level agreement (SLA) on application performance, as they do not know the quality of application coding they will be hosting, so there is effectively no one fully accountable if problems occur. This means that at present, a bank can have its customer-facing applications slow down for an hour and as the cloud provider is not accountable, it is not in breach of contract.

For example, performance issues can impact upon banking applications for customer transactions, and if that capability goes down, not only will it be difficult for the IT team to locate the issue and get systems back up and running quickly, there are also implications for the business reputation to deal with following such an incident.

How can this imbalance be addressed?

Bringing insights and the value of IT back to the business

Over the years, peoples’ perception as to the value of the IT infrastructure has eroded in the eyes of the business. This type of thinking is not unique to IT. For example, years ago people used to care about the engine in their cars, but now they just expect it to work and are really irritated if it fails. The same goes for domestic automation: washing machines, dishwashers, stereo systems, etc. These are now just viewed as commodity items to be used and replaced with no emotion. The value of IT in general needs to be recognised and the way to do this is to report on exactly how it is helping the business, in language the business understands.

So how can IT be of more value to the business? Organisations must recognise that a shift in the perception of the importance of the application (which relates to the customer) is needed. As the organisation cares about application performance, and as IT supports the applications, IT should logically also show how well they are running, how cost-efficient they are compared to other suppliers, and how in-house IT has a better understanding of the company direction than any outsourced partner.

Organisations must recognise that a shift in the perception of the importance of the application (which relates to the customer) is needed.

Outmoded infrastructure monitoring methods

In terms of tackling the issue, traditional monitoring capabilities are falling short. The tools are commonly proprietary and simply not able to keep pace with digital transformation occurring today. The core of this recurring outage problem in the financial services industry is that IT teams are simply unable to holistically ‘see’ or create a map of their entire systems environment. Greater infrastructure transparency is required.

Currently, the applications themselves can be monitored using application performance monitoring (APM) tools, – but these only show the application performance outside the data centre with perhaps a bit of hypervisor information. It is a similar story from the switch providers and network monitors as they really only look at their own devices and lack context to other devices and to the applications themselves. The entire hybrid IT infrastructure supporting the application processing needs to be viewed live across the hypervisor, VM, server, network fabric and storage together.

The AIOps solution

AIOps-driven app-centric infrastructure management will be a significant part of the solution. Artificial intelligence applied to IT operations (AIOps) utilises AI and ML (machine learning) to help ensure application and infrastructure performance.

With this holistic approach, AI-based analytics are app-centric, with correlation capabilities that provide highly insightful and integrated views across siloes and end-to-end across the entire infrastructure. In this way, a shared context can be seen across all infrastructure management tools, so that the trends and behaviour of resources can be easily read and understood. With a visual representation of the current infrastructure, IT teams can be certain as to all of the dependencies and exactly which applications are utilising or competing for different infrastructure resources. Thus, potential problems can be avoided in advance, making a meaningful shift from reactive to proactive troubleshooting, saving millions in time, money, loss of business revenue and customer loyalty.

And this is not solely for on-premises; the cloud-based outsourced applications also need this level of scrutiny to ensure performance-based SLAs can be set and then met.

With the ability to assure the performance of their mission-critical applications, banks and financial services organisations place themselves in a position to successfully manage their digital transformation journey, whilst ensuring they meet business goals and most importantly, keep their customers happy.

[1] https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/03/revealed-uk-banks-hit-by-major-it-glitches-every-day/

[2] https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/treasury-committee/

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/01/tsb-computer-meltdown-bill-rises-to-330m

[4] “Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) platforms are software systems that combine big data and AI or machine learning functionality to enhance and partially replace a broad range of IT operations processes and tasks, including availability and performance monitoring, event correlation and analysis, IT service management, and automation.” Gartner – Market Guide for AIOps Platforms. (Published August 2017)