Lafferty Retail Banking News - July 1st. 2010

1st July 2010 Alarm bells raised over US financial reform Fears are growing that a sweeping reform package designed to overhaul the US financial system may place 'enormous pressure' on retail banks.    more... StanChart confirms investment in Chinese bank IPO Standard Chartered Bank has confirmed that it will invest $500 million in the initial public offering (IPO) of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).   more... Siemens applies for bank licence Engineering company Siemens has applied to the German regulator BaFin for a banking licence.   more... Crédit Agricole launches iPhone application Crédit Agricole has launched the first iPhone budget-management application for the French retail banking market.   more... New Zealand bank reveals merger plan New Zealand member-owned community bank SBS Bank plans to merge with HBS Building Society.   more... Regional banks struggle to acquire new customers Large national banks in the US have outperformed regional banks in terms of acquiring a higher proportion of prospective customers, according to a new survey.   more... Wells Fargo broadens mobile banking services US-headquartered Wells Fargo has launched new banking applications for the Android, BlackBerry and Palm mobile devices.   more...