Tesco expands financing footprint

Tesco's offshore development centre will take on a crucial role in IT strategy as the firm expands globally and moves to become a major financial services supplier, according to Computing.co.uk.

The Bangalore facility, dubbed Hindustan Service Centre, employs 3 000 staff - 1 800 of which are in IT - and will hire another 250 technology professionals this year to cope with increasing workloads.

According to the centre's MD, Sandeep Dhar, the business is also in talks about how offshore capability can be applied to work for Tesco Personal Finance - the subsidiary purchased from partner Royal Bank of Scotland for £950 million (R12 billion) last year.

Italian thieves appear to have been thwarted by advances in new technology, states Adnkronos Business.

According to a report released by the country's banking association, 505 bank robberies were committed last year, 16% fewer than the 600 heists carried out in 2007.

More than half the robberies, 53.2%, failed due to more efficient, hi-tech security systems, the report said. Over 90% of attempted robberies targeted ATMs, but also targeted safes, the report said.

Low-income households may soon avail of loans with the aid of their mobile phones, with the mobile microfinance bank of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Globe Telecom about to commence operations, reports Business World Online.

BPI president and CEO Aurelio R Montinola III said the joint venture of the two Ayala firms had obtained central bank approval earlier this month, which will allow it to start operations in a month or two.

The joint venture will use the banking licence of Pilipinas Savings Bank, a BPI subsidiary, as vehicle for extending microfinance loans.