WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-09-15 Time: 10:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
By Sure Kamhunga
Johannesburg – FIRST National Bank (FNB) said yesterday an aggressive customer acquisition strategy will underpin the growth of its market share in SA, where the client base grew about 4% in the year to June.
FNB, which increased normalised earnings 41% to R8,54bn in the year to June, would use a combination of tactics, such as introducing new least-cost delivery channels and competitive banking fees, to increase customer numbers, said CEO Michael Jordaan.
“We believe, for example, that our banking fees are lower than our peers and this has become an attraction as customers are now more cost-conscious than before,” Mr Jordaan told Business Day.
Speaking after the release of parent FirstRand ‘s year-end results, Mr Jordaan said FNB’s customer base had grown to about 6,8-million.
Further growth was expected in the next year as FNB opened new, paperless branches, called Easy Plan. About 100 branches would have been opened by next year, targeting the mass market, where FNB already had more than 3-million customers.
This strategy was described yesterday by an analyst as a direct assault on rivals Capitec Bank and African Bank, which have made the mass market the bread and butter of their business. “I think FNB has been much more aggressive than its peers in this market and it is both a growth and a defensive strategy,” said Sanlam Asset Management analyst Patrice Rassou.
However, it was important that new customers did not just use their accounts for transactional services but also got loans.
“What will be important, however, is to ensure that the customers FNB acquires do not just use their accounts for transactional services but also to get loans instead of them going elsewhere,” said Mr Rassou.
Mr Jordaan said growth strategies included expanding FNB’s cellphone banking offering.
FNB was one of the market leaders, with more than 2-million registered users, he said.
Given the limited scope for earning interest income because of the low interest regime in the country, FNB would have to grow revenue from other sources, Mr Jordaan said.
He said FNB’s growth in earnings in the year to June had been boosted by improved business in key segments, as well as measures to bring bad loans under control, and cost-cutting.
Mr Jordaan said FNB had been more active than rivals to quickly implement measures to deal with the nonperforming loans due to the recession.
“We were not in denial two years ago and said we should not waste what to us was a good crisis. The action we took is evident in the results,” he said.
FNB recorded a 30% reduction in bad debts and a 6% growth in non-interest revenue to R14,52bn, offsetting a decline of 8% in net interest income to R9,51bn.
Mr Rassou said FNB’s overall book had grown in line with its peers, although it had demonstrated that it was stronger in the retail business, including home loans. Another area that showed a significant turnaround was the card business, he said.
Mr Jordaan said the new financial year would be marked by further cost-cutting and investment in growth areas, particularly in SA.
“We do not have a sledgehammer approach to cost-cutting and we look into each of our mini- business units – that’s what we call them in FNB – and look at the dynamics of the market.
“In some cases we will cut costs, which could be staff costs through natural attrition, or invest more, for example in our premier banking offering.”
He said FNB’s Africa growth strategy would be based on FirstRand’s strategy to become an African financial services provider of choice.
FNB had applied to open in Tanzania, while a representative office in Angola was being boosted with additional staff.
FirstRand is also keen to enter the Nigerian market through FNB but was already doing business in that country through its investment banking unit.
FNB had about 600 000 customers in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zambia. Mr Jordaan expects annualised customer growth of about 15% from these countries.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 15 September 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009150352.html?viewall=1