US Banker articles from April 2006

US Banker archives from April 2006

Rants and Raves.(introduction of fraud detection product)
April 1, 2006... To the editor: A recent story in the February issue, "An Early Look at Corporate Trouble: D&B, Experian Products Gain Bankers' Attention," contained several inaccuracies. First, the article incorrectly stated that Experian is...

The Difference Between Good and Bad Profits: Loyalty transforms the economics of business. So successful is Chick-fil-A that two of its store operators, for example, earn more than $500,000 each per year.
April 1, 2006... American Express is a believer. So is Enterprise Rent-A-Car. And Chick-fil-A. What do these companies have in common? Good profits that drive growth. Sounds overly simplistic, right? But the difference between those companies generating...

Corporate Funding: New Funding Source Rises To Meet Banks' Needs: Potential competitor to Home Loan Bank System.(Home Loan Bank F.S.B.)
April 1, 2006... A new type of investment is emerging, a type of securitized CD that provides small and mid-sized banks a much-needed funding source, while giving institutional investors a new asset class of the safest degree. In a nutshell, this new asset...

Scene and Heard.
April 1, 2006... "There has been such a backlash about it. It probably makes good sense." SCOTT BULLOCK, attorney who argued an eminent domain case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, on the announcement by two banks that they won't lend money to...

Authentication Software: Widespread Adoption Seen As Unlikely Before 2011: Is a universal credential even a possibility?
April 1, 2006... To token or not to token online banking applications may be a moot question if Bill Gates gets his way and Microsoft's identity-management metasystem is widely adopted for authentication. IBM, VeriSign and Novell have jumped on the bandwagon of...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Curtis W. Chinn gets promoted at Central Pacific Bank of Honolulu)(Mike Amato joins Barclays)(Carol Mitchell, John Fridlington and Wendy Suehrstedt joins TD Banknorth of Portland)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Central Pacific Bank of Honolulu, HI, has promoted Curtis W. Chinn to evp and CCO. Chinn was most recently the bank's acting CCO. A. Christine Baker has been made evp and CFO of Capital Bank Corp. and Capital Bank of Raleigh, NC. Baker...

Fresh Ink.(Umpqua Holdings Corp. agreed to buy Western Sierra Bancorp.)(Sky Financial Group plans to buy Union Federal Bank of Indianapolis)(Sterling Financial Corp. plans to buy Lynnwood Financial Group)
April 1, 2006... 1. Oregon-based Umpqua Bank agreed to buy Western Sierra Bancorp for $355 million in stock. The move gives Umpqua a greater presence in northern California, furthering its goal to build its brand from Sacramento to Seattle. WSB will operate...

Investment Products: Trusts Buoy Japanese Banks: Brokerages yield in market.(Japanese banks secured firm footing in investment trusts offerings)
April 1, 2006... Japanese banks are reporting surprising success in selling investment trusts, thriving where brokerage houses largely have failed. As of December, banks had a solid 38 percent share of the market for investment trusts, which only accounts for...

Security: As Data-Breach Fears Grow, Banks Need to Inspire Calm: High-tech systems are key for small-town banks.(banks inspire consumer confidence in thier financial product application)
April 1, 2006... Banks need to do a better job of inspiring consumer confidence in their financial product-application process, particularly if any part of it is outsourced overseas. Without this transparency, consumer trust may start to wane, according to...

Pipeline.(growth of banking industry)
April 1, 2006... TowerGroup Urges Banks to be adaptive In 2006, TowerGroup believes the success of the global banking industry will be based upon its ability to respond more quickly to external forces as it works to overcome challenges such as an ossified...

Wal-Mart's ILC Draws More Critics, Demanding 'Loophole' Be Closed.
April 1, 2006... Opposition is raging against granting retail giant Wal-Mart an industrial loan corporation application-its fourth attempt to acquire a bank charter-to offer low-level banking services at its stores. Joining that chorus is former Republican...

Noted and Noteworthy.(bankers identified success in retaining deposits, keeping key employees and attracting new business)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... No surprise, but most bankers identified success in three ways: retaining deposits, keeping key employees and attracting new business, though fewer believed they achieved that goal in 2005, according to a Grant Thornton survey. While almost all...

NewBank Emerges From 9/11 Ashes: All banks went into emergency mode after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Now a standby clearing bank for the bond industry is planned for mid-2007. Great idea, but what took so long?
April 1, 2006... The wheels of private industry sometimes move even slower than those of government. The Bond Market Association's announcement last month to lead the creation of the NewBank, a public-private standby institution activated only if one of the two...

Web Marketing: Search Engines: Out of Banks' Plain View: Google, Yahoo! and MSN are trying to convince banks to ramp up search-engine advertising and optimization. So far, banks haven't taken the bait. Well, for heaven's sake, why not?
April 1, 2006... Searching for "computers" on Google one January evening brought up a trove of hits on the usual suspects: Dell, Gateway, Apple and CNET. "Trucks" produced front-page links to Chevrolet and GMC, along with a sponsored tie-in to Nissan's bad-boy...

Click Fraud: Your Competitors Could Be Your Customers.(control of internet fraud)
April 1, 2006... If a financial institution puts down its per-click cash on paid search-engine ads, is it always paying for potential customers? In some instances, the bank could instead be augmenting the unethical marketing strategy of a competitor that...

Banks Renew Focus on Rewards Programs: When it comes to rewards, cheap freebies are no longer enough. What can banks do to entice customers-and keep them loyal?
April 1, 2006... Rewards programs have come a long way since the time of the free toaster. As national banks have expanded and reached into markets traditionally anchored by community banks, these smaller banks have been pressured to offer the same-or...

AD Beat: Visa USA Learns Some Life Lessons: Market saturation is all well and good, but emotional appeal is equally important to consumers. It's a double play.
April 1, 2006... Being everywhere you want to be has worked out pretty well for Visa USA. In the last decade, the brand has doubled its merchant-acceptance rate to six million, and annual sales volume has shot to $1.1 trillion from $263 billion. But after 20...

The Path to Redemption: Four years ago, PNC Financial Services was on the regulatory ropes. Overcoming those troubles wasn't easy for chairman and CEO James Rohr, who instilled confidence-and, some say, a bit of a swagger-in a company searching for an identity. Today PNC seems able to do no wrong. Can its run of success continue?(Company overview)
April 1, 2006... When Merrill Lynch agreed in February to take a 49.8 percent stake in money manager BlackRock, the biggest winners might have been PNC Financial Services Group and its chairman and CEO, James Rohr. The deal values Pittsburgh-based PNC's 70...

New Systems Flag problems before closing: New rules under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act require lenders to collect and reveal data on a loan applicant's race, sex and income. Institutions also must share how they determine rate spreads for applicants. New automation tools offer more of an upside than simply compliance; workflow and productivity are much improved, too. Talk about a win-win.
April 1, 2006... As chief compliance officer, Jeffrey McFadden has never been one to take chances. But with up to 50,000 loan contracts streaming through his Irvine, CA-based New Century Financial Corp. every month, he found himself relying on a mostly reactive...

Top 2005 Residential Originators.
April 1, 2006... (dollars in millions) Origination Volume Rank Organization Name 2005 2004 % Change Market Share Mkt Shr% pt. +/- 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA $490,947 $363,009 35%...

Top 2005 Residential Servicers.
April 1, 2006... (dollars in millions) Servicing Volume Rank Organization Name 2005 2004 % Change Market Share Mkt Shr% pt. +/- 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA $1,111,090 $838,322 ...

Security Breaches Bedevil Small Banks Most of All: Risk assessment is key in determining where the security holes are in a community bank's framework. Many banks don't distinguish between paper risk and behavioral or employee risk. But it's there.
April 1, 2006... The most wicked April Fool's Day gag to play on the CEO of a community bank? Claim that a hacker obtained access to the institution's entire customer database, and that the Associated Press is on the phone. "The worst thing in the world,...

Roth Retirement Vehicles Promise to Be Boon: Roth 401(k) accounts just became available this year and banks could win big, particularly in offering back-office support. But will they catch on among investors?
April 1, 2006... A new type of retirement account just became available in 2006, and even though it may become a big market for banks to provide administration and back-office support, there are a slew of challenges to be met first. They include legislative and...

Banks Weigh In On Explosive Issue Of Eminent Domain: Eminent domain took center stage last year after a controversial Supreme Court decision. And now bankers are beginning to assert themselves on the lending side of the issue. There is no shortage of opinion, but some question their motive.
April 1, 2006... Eminent domain catapulted last year from a topic for policy wonks to a mainstream issue in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, which allowed a Connecticut town to buy 15 residents' properties over their objections to raise more tax...

And Now, the UMA Marches Down the Aisle: Separately managed accounts are morphing into a multi-discipline product, which plays to the strengths of banks. They still have a small portion of the overall market, but growth is promising.(unified managed accounts)
April 1, 2006... The traditional separately managed account has been quietly morphing into a broader product: a unified managed account, says Chris Cosentino, spokesman of the Money Management Institute, an association for the SMA and managed-investment...

Do Deals Work? Bene1/2ts of M&A Remain Debatable, as Revenue Takes Center Stage: M&A is one of the ongoing legacies in banking, but don't try to quantify the results. A good deal is about more than cutting costs; it's about a good revenue fit.
April 1, 2006... You're a shareholder of a big bank and there is an announcement that it will acquire a cross-town rival. There are press accounts of synergies and redundancies, but you're unsure if you should be wary of the deal or elated? So you investigate...

Retail Banking is Here to Stay.(usage of Internet banking and the expanded use of ATMs)
April 1, 2006... It is widely believed that the onset of Internet banking and the expanded use of ATMs will prompt the gradual demise of the retail-banking branch network. However, this belief is in contrast to both the facts of the situation, as well as the...