It has been suggested by the Alliance and Leicester that small business owners can make their lives easier by carefully selecting the best bank to suit them, rather than just going for the nearest or most advertised.
The Alliance and Leicester head of Business Banking has said that choosing the right deal on a business bank account can make a real difference in the day to day running of the organisation. More money can be earned in interest, there can be easier access to funds and good communications can ease stress levels.
With these points in mind it may come as no surprise to hear that the Alliance and Leicester has been named as the current account provider of the year for business banking, an award it has now received for the last 6 years.
Citibank has reorganised its operations in the Asia Pacific area, giving top executives in the region much greater responsibility for more of the different products offered.
The move is just one of many creative attempts by the Chief Executive to stir up business activity as well as managing costs since he took over late last year. Such actions have been necessary to help realign Citibank after it suffered badly in the aftermath of the American sub prime lending collapse.
The Asia Pacific region is to be split down into four sub-categories – North Asia, South Asia, Japan and Southeast Asia Pacific – each of which will have a head responsible for all of the different product categories offered by Citibank.
Citibank has revealed that it intends to reduce its portfolio having suffered at the hands of the sub prime lending difficulties in the USA.
Of all the financial institutions to suffer over the American mortgage problems Citibank felt the pain more than any other. The sub prime area of lending is one that they were heavily involved in. Due to this they are to sell around 20 percent of their assets over the next couple of years, worth around USD400 billion.
They have already announced the areas of business where the cuts will be made, namely consumer banking and securities banking. Citibank has stated it has an objective of generating revenue growth of 10 percent within 36 months, and these cuts are part of their plan. By freeing up resources they can focus more on the areas where growth can be achieved whilst reducing their exposure to potentially difficult markets.
