The boom in the mortgage refinancing business in the United States has resulted in record business for U.S. retail banks, who are showning remarkable resilience in a difficult economic environment, achieving an impressive operating discipline. But these conditions are not commonplace in other parts of the world. Downtrodden corporate earnings and overall economic malaise are hitting wholesale banks hard, especially "universal banks" that have blended commercial- and investment-banking operations. Many European banks are experiencing less progress establishing new processes that reduce operating cost and improve efficiency. And performance in the Asia-Pacific region is lower than expected.

The Cisco® Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) helps bank executives maximize operational efficiency and effectiveness by increasing workforce productivity. For example, the banking practice within IBSG's global services team worked with the executive management team of a top-10 U.S. bank to identify strategies for reducing costs and improving operating efficiency, resulting in net savings in excess of $250 million.

"The people at Cisco have been great friends. They've been very accessible, they've taken the time to learn our business and, frankly, that's worth more to me than the price of the last router we bought."
—David Carroll, co-head of merger integration, Wachovia Corp.