Departures (2008) Wednesday, 10.50pm, Film4 Winner of 2009's Foreign

Departures (2008)

* The CARD Act, which reduces the amount of interest and fee income that banks can collect. Some have estimated that the CARD Act will reduce the average annual income of large banks by $500 million to $1 billion and of mid-tier banks by $50 million to $100 million.The explosion of mobile technology, combined with a surge in the popularity of social media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, gives retail banks a new way to connect with consumers and a mandate to do so: The average Facebook user has 150 "friends," who can hear about a good, or bad, banking experience within minutes.* Dodd-Frank, which will restrict fees, increase compliance costs and, potentially, further commoditize banking, making it harder for banks to differentiate themselves. By some estimates, Dodd-Frank will reduce profits by as much as 12 percent over the next five years.Regulatory and market-driven forces have created a perfect storm of events that banking executives say will make it more costly to compete and attract new customers. According to PwC, retail banks are on the verge of a major overhaul as they adjust their growth strategies and business models, including reevaluating the role of branches, incorporating mobile banking, payments and social media and breaking down the organizational, operational and technology barriers that have prevented them from growing organically.Leading banks, including some entering the U.S. market from overseas, are moving beyond product silos to become more customer-centric. PwC identifies three essential strategies for becoming customer-centric: Breaking down product silos and restructuring incentives; understanding customer needs, preferences and behavioral drivers; and, delivering a consistently high-quality customer experience. These strategies can enable banks to move beyond merely "pushing" products to better anticipating customer needs and proactively offering the most relevant products and services.Adopting such a customer-centric focus is difficult for some retail banks because they are organized primarily around business lines, with products housed in silos. In particular, the silos limit the knowledge any one business unit has about a customer's other accounts with the bank, hindering efficient product pricing, customer segmentation and cross-selling.The PwC report When the Growing Gets Tough: How Retail Banks Can Thrive in a Disruptive, Mobile, Regulated World is available at http://www.pwc.com/us/Mobile-Retail-Banking.>

Probably the most eagerly anticipated comic book adaptation yet (it was originally discussed as a Terry Gilliam project in the 1980s), Zack Snyder's take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal strip about seedy, outlawed superheroes coming out of retirement in an grimy alternative America delivers a fanboy's dream. Though some might quibble it's not as good as the book. And that The Incredibles is a far more splendid movie.