Weekly Global News Wrap Up: UK banks eye customised alerts to boost customer loyalty; Turkey eases banks' capital rules

And US fintechs remain cautious after the US banking charter plan.

From Reuters: Britain’s biggest banks are planning to send personalised spending alerts and in some cases money management advice to their mobile banking customers as they strive to shore up brand loyalty in the face of growing competition.

Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC will launch a range of new alerts from this year, for instance informing clients whenever they spend on their card or when a bill is higher than usual.

The move is one example of how traditional lenders are expected to start harnessing a wealth of customer data in ways they haven’t before, as competition and changing consumer behaviour threaten their decades-old business model.

From Bloomberg: Turkish regulators took an unconventional step to support the nation’s beleaguered banks, temporarily suspending the effect of day-to-day securities losses on how their financial strength is measured.

The new rule suspending mark-to-market calculations on capital adequacy ratios will continue until prices of securities “normalize,” the nation’s banking regulator said Tuesday. The "recent speculative volatility in markets" caused an “unfair erosion" in banks’ capital strength, it said. 

From Reuters: Financial technology companies that lend online are sounding a cautious note on a U.S. banking regulator’s plan to offer them special federal charters because of concerns over legal challenges and requirements that are more onerous than expected.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said that it would accept applications for banking licenses from online lenders that do business outside the traditional banking system. 

However, many fintech companies expect the charter to become embroiled in a legal battle between the federal government and states.