Look out for 'phishing' scams!
ABSA has warned customers to be careful with their personal information, as it and other banks are increasingly targeted by online scams designed to get users to part with their banking information. While American banks make up the majority of those attacked by so-called "phishing" scams, a report released last week by security company RSA showed that SA banks were the ninth-most targeted last month. The company's monthly Online Fraud Report showed that 2 percent of the banking brands attacked in January were based in South Africa. In a statement provided to the Cape Times, Absa said counterfeit websites and e-mails are the primary means fraudsters use to try to get customers' banking information. "We advise customers to be very alert, diligent and suspicious of e-mails they receive from unknown senders," the statement said.
SARS braces for taxpayer rush to avoid penalties
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced important changes in operational procedures for the next two weeks. The aim is to avoid taxpayer frustration as many businesses in particular will be making payments for various tax types until Monday, March 31, the end of the 2007/08 financial year for SARS. SARS said in a statement it will try to ensure all money due by March 31 is banked in time. There is traditionally a last-minute rush to make payments in time to avoid penalties for late payment. The rush has resulted in SARS having to cope with a greater volume of transactions. Payments related to business and cash-flow cycles include payments for VAT (normally from the 25th of each month) and personal income tax and corporate income tax. A number of public holidays fall within this period.
(AFX UK Focus) 2008-03-13 18:39 GMT: Car dealers pressured to combine
DETROIT (AP) - For years, the Warren Central High School Warriors have counted on Gene Beltz's Shadeland Dodge for support.
From buying ad space in programs to paying for schedule printing to sponsoring a mentorship program, the dealership has been there to support athletics and academics at the football powerhouse on Indianapolis' east side. But the new owners of Chrysler LLC want to jettison hundreds of single-brand dealers like Shadeland, consolidating them into larger operations that sell all three company brands, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. The plan, similar to those under way at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., could mean an exit from the business for Shadeland and other longtime dealerships that have long been part of the American landscape. "I'm kind of a dinosaur," says owner Kevin Beltz, whose father started the business in 1970 when the area was a bustling hub of factories.
Wells Fargo plans to sell online safes for storing vital records
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Not all banking customers want a safe deposit box. So Wells Fargo plans to sell online vaults as a secure and convenient alternative for storing vital records. When the service rolls out this summer, Wells Fargo believes it will be the first major U.S. bank to offer an Internet alternative to the safe deposit boxes that have been an industry staple for decades. Because it can't store jewelry, cash and many other precious assets, Wells Fargo's online version isn't likely to replace the traditional safe deposit box. The bank says it's more likely to replace shoe boxes and home filing cabinets by storing digital versions of birth certificates, wills, driver's licenses, passports, family photos and other important documents. Customers will be able to retrieve the documents from any computing device with an Internet connection, a major advantage for frequent travelers.
Websense expands data loss prevention solutions
Mar 10 -- Websense Inc. announced last week that the company has extended its edge in data loss prevention (DLP) through customer growth and retention, technology innovation, channel partner enablement and increased global support. A year after acquiring PortAuthority, Websense increased the number of Websense Data Security Suite customers by 100 percent, while retaining the entire existing customer base. Businesses across all vertical industries have adopted Websense Data Security Suite to achieve regulatory compliance, control confidential information and protect intellectual property. Customers include: Nedbank, Newport Media, Overstock.com, Zim Integrated Shipping Services and many more. As a result of Websense's increased investment in research and development (R&D) of the technology and its channel partner program, customer adoption of Data Security Suite increased in the second half of last year, increasing the customer base by 66 percent during that time period with new customers from five regions around the globe.
(AFX UK Focus) 2008-03-10 09:40 GMT: UK small caps open lower; Volex hard-hit on H2 profit warning
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK small caps were lower in early trade, dragged down by a weak wider market, with Volex hard-hit on the back of a H2 profits warning. The FTSE Small Cap index was 9.1 points adrift at 3,163.7 by 9.15 am, while the FTSE 100 was 40.7 down at 5,659.2. Volex Group was a major casualty, falling 22 pence to 71-1/2 as the electrical and electronic cable assemblies company warned that, as a result of lower than expected order levels, trading since the last update has deteriorated further and it does not now expect to be profitable in the second half of this financial year. Again on the downside, D1 Oils continued to lose ground, sliding 5 more to 57 after The Sunday Telegraph reported that the company will look to raise up to 30 mln stg in fresh capital.
Markets May Stay Afloat Amid Expectations Of Deeper Cut - RTTNews Daily Market Analysis
(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday. Traders may breath a sigh of relief after investment houses Lehman (LEH) and Goldman Sachs (GS) reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter. Additionally, expectations of an interest rate cut could help keep the markets afloat. U.S. stocks closed mixed on Monday, as concerns over the deepening crisis were mitigated to some extent by the fact that Bear Stearns (BSC) found a suitor and that JP Morgan (JPM) got a better bargain out of the deal. The Dow Industrials remained below the unchanged line for the bulk of the session before recovering in the last hour of trading. JP Morgan soared 10.32%, while Merck (MRK), Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) posted gains in excess of 2% each. At the close of trading, the Dow was up 21.16 points or 0.18% at 11,972.
Problems at Abbey due to core systems upgrade - community blog from Chris Skinner
I mentioned the other day that Middle Eastern banks were upgrading core systems in six months whilst, in the UK, the last major upgrade I've been aware of is that of the retail bank, Abbey. Abbey are changing core systems to implement those consistent with their Spanish owners, Grupo Santander, who bought Abbey in 2004. Now there's a whole variety of research out there on customer satisfaction with UK banks, and most are showing Abbey performing poorly. For example, Finextra reported the Which? magazine findings six months ago that showed Abbey bottom of the list for customer satisfaction. No wonder when you get bloggers writing reports with headlines such as "Sparky vs Abbey" and "Abbey: How I Hate Thee". Funnily enough, in conversation with various folks this week, I've heard that if you bring together most of the league tables of benchmarks for customer satisfaction with UK retail banks, then you'd get something along the lines of the following: First Direct *Co-operative Financial ServicesNationwide Building SocietyNatWestLloyds TSBHSBCBarclaysHBOSAbbey with Abbey consistently performing badly. In fact, according to this BBC survey, 60% of their customers are fed up.
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