Citi Goes Mass Market With Its Mobile Banking Application
Citigroup has made the first move to take its mobile banking platform mass market. Check out this clip of its new mobile-banking TV ads, courtesy of YouTube.
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Oracle Forms Financial Services Global Business Unit
Oracle Corp. [ticker: ORCL] is forming a unit to focus its offerings to banks, insurance companies, and capital markets firms.
A central part of Oracle’s strategy is to provide a seamless infrastructure and application platform for financial services based on its Application Integration Architecture platform, which features pre-built integration services across Oracle’s enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and vertical industry applications.
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ACS to Consider Other Takeover Offers, Despite Cerberus Bid
Business process and IT services outsourcer Affiliated Computer Services opened the door to competing bids for a takeover of the company, as a group led by the ACS chaiman gave a special board committee persmision to seek other offers.
The ending of an exclusivity agreement with Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm, and Darwin Deason, chairman of ACS, means a potential higher bid from a third party. The Deason and Cerberus-led group offered $62 per share for the company on April 23.
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Tata Consultancy Services to Spin Off Financial Software Unit
Tata Consultancy Services, an IT services and outsourcing organization, is spinning off its financial services software unit.
The new group will be called TCS Financial Solutions and will house the BaNCS sets of products, including software for anti-money laundering, customer relationship management, core banking, global custody, insurance, online trading, payments, private banking, and wealth management. TCS Financial will sell the applications
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Allianz Considers Entry into Indian Retail Market
Allianz SE [ticker: AZ], Europe’s largest insurer by gross premiums, is considering starting a retail banking operation in India. The Munich, Germany-based company is in discussions with such institutions as the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, according to an Allianz board member. Costs to enter the retail banking market in India would be lower for Allianz than for some of its competitors, as it already has financial
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MGIC to Buy Radian in $4.9 Billion Stock Deal
Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. [ticker: MTG] will buy Philadelphia-based rival Radian Group Inc. [ticker: RDN] in a move to cut costs.Milwaukee-based MGIC will exchange 0.9658 of a share for each of Radian's 80.54 million shares outstanding. Radian's stock price in the deal is valued at $60.78 per share, $0.06 lower than yesterday's closing price.The combined company, to be called, MGIC Radian Financial Group Inc., will have nearly $15 billion
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Fidelity National Financial’s 4Q Net Drops
Fidelity National Financial reported fourth-quarter 2006 net income of $71.2 million, or $0.34 per share, down 38% from $115.2 million, or $0.64 per share, in the same period in 2005. Revenue fell 26% to $1.8 billion, as revenue from title and escrow premiums dropped to $1.38 billion, compared with $1.5 billion one year ago.Excluding transaction costs related to Fidelity National’s reorganization, which was completed in the fourth quarter,
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Fidelity National Real Estate Acquires Mortgage Lead Generator
Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, a unit of Fidelity National Financial Inc., has acquired online mortgage lead generator Go Apply.
Fidelity [ticker: FNF] will partner its web site, Cyberhomes.com, with Go Apply. The new site provides users with an electronic valuation of their homes. Connecting the two will enable Go Apply to generate more leads from users inquiring about their homes’ values, according to William Foley, Fidelity National Financial’s chief executive.
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PMI Profits Drop in 4Q
Mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. [ticker: PMI] reported 7% lower fourth-quarter earnings as net premiums dropped 4% and losses shot up 40%.Walnut Creek, Calif.-based PMI earned $100.5 million, or $1.19 per share, last quarter, compared with $107.7 million, or $1.11 per share, in the prior-year period.Fourth-quarter net premiums fell to $235.5 million from $246.1 million in the final quarter of 2005. For the year, though, net premiums were up 2% to
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