Financial Services Deal Insights, April 2008

M&A activity in the financial services sector requires all players to have understanding of deal dynamics. This analysis provides a comprehensive look at all M&A, public offerings, and venture finance activities in the for the month of April 2008

Report Highlights
The financial services sector recorded 156 M&A deals in April, a decrease of 24.2% compared with the six-month average.

In value terms, the month witnessed M&A transactions worth $21.4 billion, a decrease of 51% over the six-month average.

Financial services companies raised $19.8 billion in April through 13 public offerings, an increase of 120.5% over the six-month average in value terms
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Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Methodology 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
Introduction 3
The Payment Card Competitor Tracker provides both one month and 12 month views of developments 3
Each month, Datamonitor tracks the most relevant announcements from 64 competitors 3
Datamonitor's Cards and Payments Team provides analysis of the key developments at both the one month and 12 month level 4
A fully searchable database of the past 12 months of developments is also delivered alongside the report 4
Key Trends and Developments in March 5
Visa's IPO is the biggest story of the month, but there were several other notable developments 5
Visa raised $19.65 billion from its IPO, the largest in corporate history 5
The collapse of Bear Stearns is interesting in a broader context 6
GE Money and Banco Santander's deals see GE return to its commercial roots, while Santander makes a strong push into consumer finance in Europe 6
GE Money's Earth product highlights a trend towards 'eco-friendly' driven value propositions 7
HSBC and Standard Chartered both achieved approval to incorporate locally in Vietnam 7
March was a busy month led by a large volume of M&A related developments 8
March saw a total of 54 competitor developments, the highest level of activity in 2008 so far 8
The bulk of developments were in M&A, in spite the current credit crisis 9
North America and Asia-Pacific continue to account for the majority of competitor activity 10
Card issuers account for the majority of developments in March, with card schemes comparatively quiet 11
Co-brand, premium and commercial products were the most prevalent in March 11
Co-branding continues to be an important area of focus for issuers 12
Developments in commercial card offerings highlight the attention now being paid to this sector 13
The drive to segment customer bases is pushing innovation and development in the premium sector 13
A further interesting product development has been product personalization 14
M&A and organic growth announcements featured strongly in March 14
Barclaycard and US Bancorp both announced acquisitions in their domestic markets 15
Barclaycard also announced the acquisition of Russia's Expobank, while KBC has agreed to take full ownership of Slovakia's Istrobanka 16
TSYS's processing agreement with Standard Bank will strengthen its position in Africa 16
JP Morgan's agreement with NASA could see it put the first payment card on Mars 16
Product, Services and Innovation 17
American Express 17
US: American Express adds StubHub to small business savings program 17
Bank of America 17
UK: MBNA and MasterCard bring contactless payment to Manchester City FC 17
US: Bank of America launches baseball-themed checking and credit card products 17
Citigroup 18
Italy: Citi and Italian Automobile Club launch Citi ACI Visa Card 18
Pakistan: Citibank Credit Cardholders to be offered Gerry's/FedEx discount 18
Russia: ZAO Citibank and Stockmann launch co-branded card 18
GE Money 18
Thailand: GE Money Thailand offers 'GE Money Mobile Payment' 18
JP Morgan Chase 18
US: JP Morgan introduces new freight payment and audit solution 18
US: JP Morgan launches corporate platinum and gold travel and entertainment cards 19
Maybank 19
Malaysia: Maybank launches Treatspoints instant redemption loyalty scheme 19
Malaysia: Maybank launches debit card in partnership with Visa 19
Malaysia: Maybank launches card aimed at affluent customers 20
Royal Bank of Canada 20
Canada: RBC launches card for high net worth customers 20
US Bancorp 20
US: US Bancorp introduces Payment Plus online payment system 20
TSYS 21
US: TSYS launches healthcare benefits payments system 21
Visa 21
UK: Foodservice company EAT installs Visa contactless payments system 21
US: Visa expands small business discount offers program 21
M&A, Partnerships and Organic Growth 22
American Express 22
US: American Express to acquire GE Money's corporate payment services 22
Atos-Origin 22
UK: Atos-Origin is awarded BP card processing contract 22
Bank of America 23
US: Bank of America and MIT Media Lab create Center for Future Banking 23
Bank of Montreal 23
Canada: Bank of Montreal opens branch in West Edmonton 23
Canada: Bank of Montreal opens branch in Calgary suburb 23
Barclays 24
Russia: Barclays to acquire Russian bank Expobank 24
BBVA 24
Brazil: BBVA sells 5% holding in Bradesco 24
BNP Paribas 24
Russia: BNP Paribas initiates retail banking operations in Russia 24
Capital One 24
US: Capital One enters New York market 24
Citigroup 25
Bahrain: Citibank and AXA launch auto-insurance payment scheme 25
Hong Kong: Citifinancial opens North Point and Yau Ma Tei branches 25
Japan: Citi announces new group structure in Japan 25
Russia: ZAO Citibank launches Ryazan Operations Center 25
US: Citibank opens new financial centers across US 25
Crédit Agricole 26
Europe: Crédit Agricole in joint venture negotiations with Banco Popolare 26
Discover 26
UK: Discover completes sale of Goldfish to Barclays 26
First Data 26
US: First Data to provide merchant services to Cathay Bank 26
Grupo Santander 26
Spain: Santander and GE Money reach preliminary agreement 26
HSBC 27
Vietnam: HSBC to incorporate in Vietnam 27
ICBC 27
China: ICBC completes Standard Bank equities purchase 27
China: ICBC launches strategic cooperation with Standard Bank 27
ING 27
Netherlands: ING to invest in its retail banking network in the Netherlands 27
Intesa Sanpaolo 28
Intesa Sanpaolo sells branches to Banca Carige for €996 million 28
JP Morgan Chase 28
US: Chase Card Services acquires Unicorn Financial 28
US: JP Morgan Chase to acquire Bear Stearns 28
US: JP Morgan extends local presence in Latin America 28
US: NASA selects JP Morgan Chase for charge card program 28
KBC 29
Slovakia: KBC acquires full ownership of Istrobanka 29
Maybank 29
Cambodia: Maybank opens second branch in Cambodia 29
Indonesia: Maybank wins the bid to acquire Bank Internasional Indonesia 29
Vietnam: Maybank acquires a stake in Vietnam's ABBank 30
Royal Bank of Canada 30
Trinidad and Tobago: RBC subsidiary amalgamation receives RBTT shareholder approval 30
Standard Chartered 30
Vietnam: Standard Chartered receives in principle approval to locally incorporate in Vietnam 30
TSYS 31
South Africa: TSYS signs payment processing agreement with Standard Bank 31
US Bancorp 31
US: US Bancorp acquires Mellon 1st Business Bank 31
Visa 31
US: Visa launches IPO 31
Washington Mutual 32
US: Washington Mutual announces ATM branding partnership with Cardtronics 32
Appendix 33
Methodology 33
Further reading 33
Ask the analyst 33
Datamonitor consulting 33
Disclaimer 33
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Figure 1: The number of affluent individuals in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico will top 4.5 million by 2011 3
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