As well as my weekly commercial banking round-up (published every Monday lunchtime) I also produce a ‘Midweek banking snapshot’ on Wednesdays. This features latest news from the UK’s banks, along with current regulatory issues and banking technology developments. My clients find it a useful overview of their sector at the halfway point in the working week. Here are some extracts from today’s snapshot. If you’re interested in this product, please use the contact form on this website to get in touch.

Banks making the news …

Aldermore has more than doubled its maximum property development loan size from £10 million to £25 million. The new limit will enable SME developers, who often have problems getting financial support, to secure funding to help them meet the growing demand for new homes across Britain. Aldermore said the move was part of the specialist bank’s strategy to increase its support for UK housebuilders in 2018. There’s more on Aldermore’s website.

Santander UK has announced a commercial partnership with JD.com, China’s biggest retailer, which means that the bank’s UK-based SME customers will now be able to launch stores on JD.com Worldwide. John Carroll, Head of International Business at Santander Corporate & Commercial Bank, said: ‘Facilitating these connections between customers and genuine business opportunities (across borders) is the essence of what we’re trying to do with our international business.’ You can read more about this initiative on Santander’s website.

Lloyds Bank‘s latest Business in Britain report has some interesting findings. The January 2018 edition of the twice-yearly survey of over 1,500 firms shows that business confidence is highest in the North East of England, at 38%. Across the UK as a whole, confidence remains fairly steady at 23% (compared with 24% last July). While this is a higher figure than the 12% recorded immediately after the Brexit referendum, it’s below the levels seen before the vote. You can read the full findings on Lloyds Bank’s website.

Barclays unveiled the results of its new Military Insights Tool, highlighting its central finding that skills acquired in the armed services can be very valuable in business. Veterans who participated in the analysis scored in the top 30 percentile for a number of key aptitudes needed in the workplace, outperforming many civilian employees. Leadership, creativity and emotional intelligence were key areas of strength identified among ex-members of the armed services. Barclays’ website has further details.

RBS published an economic analysis in which it took stock of events in 2017 and looked ahead to 2018. On UK growth, the bank said: ‘A modest slowing is the consensus view for 2018 with growth of 1.5% pencilled in. 2019 looks similar.’ Looking at prices and wages, RBS observed: ‘The re-emergence of the consumer squeeze was the key trend in 2017 with inflation outpacing wage growth since February.’ With inflation still forecast to be above 2% come Q4 2018, ‘if wage growth doesn’t improve the squeeze will endure’. You can read the full report on the RBS website.

Current regulatory issues …

New ‘Open Banking’ rules due to come into effect on Saturday are already making waves across the media. The rules will compel financial institutions to share detailed customer data with third parties authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, as part of a drive to help consumers compare deals, view all their money on one screen, and ultimately save money. But according to experts cited in the Daily Telegraph, people making use of this online banking revolution will be at greater risk of bank transfer scams.

Which? is among those to have raised concerns – the consumer group warns on its website: ‘Open banking should give you greater control over your money, but it raises critical questions about data privacy, security, and financial exclusion.’ The Guardian asked in an article on Monday: ‘Open banking: radical shake-up, or a threat to your private data?’ The paper quoted Victor Trokoudes, CEO of financial assistant app Plum, who said banking products will become commodities or utilities as a result of the changes.

Banking technology & innovation …

Bankingtech.com reports that TransferWise has rolled out its ‘borderless’ account and debit card service to 1,000 customers since its launch last May. The scheme – previously only available to businesses and freelancers – enables eligible users to hold and convert 28 currencies at the real exchange rate. TransferWise chairman Taavet Hinrikus said his vision was that: ‘One day anyone will be able to send and receive money, in any currency, from friends, customers or companies anywhere in the world, and spend anywhere, never worrying about the exchange rate again.’

Business Insider has an interview with economist Garrick Hileman, from the University of Cambridge, who talks interestingly about how central banks are experimenting with blockchain technology. He explains that blockchain can be quite resilient and bring more transparency to central banking. But there are challenges – particularly around the lack of privacy of blockchain technology.