| New BofA site touts online, cell-phone banking
Bank of America Corp. has launched an online site to instruct customers about online and cell-phone banking. "Our customers lead mobile lives, and they need a bank with options, products and features that can keep up with that fast pace," says Lance Drummond, e-commerce and ATM executive. "With Bank of America, all you need is Internet access through your computer or mobile phone to be connected to your finances anytime, anywhere." The site features characters that lead visitors through interactive demonstrations of each online- and mobile-banking product. Customers can learn how to access accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and receive account alerts via text message on their mobile phone. The Web site, dubbed Bank the Way You Live, is at bankofamerica.com/anywhere.
Rochester on Most Dangerous List
A controversial list of the most dangerous cities in America named Rochester number 30 and Buffalo number 24. This annual listing of the country's safest and most dangerous cities comes from publisher Congressional Quarterly. Despite the name it has nothing to do with Congress and is not a government source. The list ranks cities with 75,000 residents or more whose police departments report crime statistics to the FBI. Yet even the FBI and other law enforcement agencies say the information is misleading. While Rochester is a city of 35 square miles, Albuquerque is 135 square miles. It ranked 80 on the list. "Rochester we are suburbanized here," said Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy. “We don't spread forever like some of the larger cities, so I don't think those rankings are entirely accurate." There are better but more complicated ways to calculate the safety of a city.
The World In A Glass: Biofuel from wine; Vickâ€s vino misfortunes
With the price of oil reaching all-time highs, the European Union is looking toward alternative fuels and one of them is biofuel, made from biomass or anything living or dead that can be converted into fuel.One company is making biofuel from wine that has not been sold and from grapes that are not good enough to be made into wine.(Just think — the next time you drink some plonk, you have just deprived some EU citizen of some fuel.)New Zealand wine scandalThe wine that won top prize in the Hawkes Bay Wine Awards in New Zealand recently was made by the company headed by the chief judge of the competition.But, according to nzherald.co.nz, the judge, Tony Bish, said he was not involved in the judging that may have influenced the result. "As a judge he enforces the standards by which the wines are judged and is available for making decisions when judges’ opinions are split over any wine," the Web site said.
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IT WAS the computer specialists at Britain's top-secret listening station, GCHQ, who uncovered the existence of Scotland's first home-grown terror suspect. Mohammed Atif Siddique's cover was blown after his e-mails to a man in the north-west of England, who was already suspected as an al-Qaeda operative, were intercepted. .
Revenue offers new amnesty on tax delinquents
Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is trying once more to claw back money from people with offshore bank accounts through the offer of a partial amnesty. The move follows an attempt to offer offshore account holders an amnesty in June 2007 which has produced meagre pickings for Revenue & Customs . From early next year, HMRC will announce a second partial amnesty designed to persuade holders of offshore accounts to reveal the tax that they owe in exchange for a reduced fine. .
Bell tolls for bridge canopy
FORTH ROAD BRIDGE bosses are set to spend £250,000 demolishing the canopy over the toll plaza after residents complained it ruined their view. The £5 million toll booths have only been in place for just over a year but will be removed following the decision to scrap tolls by the government. .
Loonie business
BUFFALO, NEW YORK–A top of the line Apple iMac computer retails for $2,299 U.S. (about $2,190 Canadian) in the States. The same computer in Canada? $2,449. That's a savings of almost $300 – before taxes. With a Canadian dollar bubbling over the $1.05 U.S. mark and long-suffering Canadians eager to take advantage of coming out on top in the Canadian-U.S. exchange race, it's easy to see how a price difference like that would be enough to send a consumer running for the border. And they've been doing so. According to a recent Statistics Canada report, cross-border shopping trips by Canadians were up 4.2 per cent in August to an estimated 1.5 million overnight trips. And the dollar only hit parity in September. But before you pack up the car and the kids, grab a fistful of credit cards and head for sales country, you might want to take a moment to do a bit more math.
ICICI Bank to shrink retail lending share
The $79-billion ICICI Bank, the country's second-largest bank, is set to witness a significant shift in its business portfolio, as corporate lending sees an upswing and retail lending slows following a tightening of interest rates. Over the next two to three years, the bank will reduce the retail component from 70% to around 50%, or even lower. The retail portfolio of the bank grew from 0-70% in seven years. In an exclusive interview with FE, ICICI Bank MD & CEO K Vaman Kamath said this shift would be accelerated on account of the sharp increase in corporate lending. Kamath said growth in retail lending was invariably set to be tempered owing chiefly to the higher base. The subsequent hikes in interest rates have also had an effect on retail loans and Kamath said going forward, it was difficult to take a view of more than three to six months on the interest rate scenario.
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-13 13:39 GMT: Polish Sept current account deficit inches up, just below forecast
WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's current account deficit rose a touch to 681 mln eur in September, up from a revised 618 mln eur reported in August but below analysts' consensus expectations of an 800 mln eur shortfall, central bank data showed today. The bank said the trade shortfall rose to 921 mln eur from 310 mln a month earlier, with imports rising 13.9 pct and exports just 8.4 pct. Other data released today by the state statistical office, which calculates its data on the basis of customs receipts rather than bank flows, showed the cumulative nine month shortfall on trade rose to 11.9 bln eur in September, up from 8.7 bln a year earlier. patrick.graham@thomson.com *48 22 447 2430 pjg/ejb COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007.
AT&T, Wachovia launch mobile banking service
AT&T Inc. and Wachovia Corp. joined forces to launch an online banking system via cell phones that allows customers to view account balances, transfer funds and pay bills. According to Celent, a research and consulting firm, about 46 million households currently bank online. By 2010, 17 million households will use mobile banking as an alternative online banking source. "The ability to perform banking functions using a wireless handset is attractive for people who need to make financial decisions on the go - business travelers, college students and anyone who desires the flexibility that wireless delivers," said Mark Collins, vice president, Consumer Data, for AT&T's wireless unit. Mississippi-based BancorpSouth, which has a presence in the Birmingham market, also offers mobile banking through AT&T.
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