US Banker articles from February 2006

US Banker archives from February 2006

Dwelling on the U.S.'s Affordable-Housing Crisis: The housing boom of the last 13 years has lulled many people into a false sense of stability. Look past the record-setting numbers and one can easily find evidence of a housing crisis-and it increasingly involves the Everyman.
February 1, 2006... In the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life, few things stop people dead in their tracks. One thing that should: America's lack of affordable housing. The housing boom of 13 consecutive years has lulled many people into a false sense...

ID Theft Insurance: Community Banks Seek To Protect Themselves: It's not just data breaches that worry bankers.
February 1, 2006... While the idea of identity theft insurance for consumers made a splash in the second half of 2005, a more meaningful insurance market has quietly emerged within the broad category of identity fraud. Banks are taking out policies to protect...

Scene and Heard.(Michael Perry from IndyMac)(Rick Wemmers from Bank Marketing Pros)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... "You should make decisions with 75 percent of the facts and then be humble enough to fix the mistakes before they become disasters." Michael Perry, CEO of IndyMac, on what makes an effective management style "It certainly works when...

Compliance: Greater Responsibilities Define the CCO's Position: Technology component is more integrated.(chief compliance officers)
February 1, 2006... The chief compliance officer may never hold the same sway as other C-suite executives, but industry observers agree his star has risen dramatically in banking over the last decade. "We're seeing a continuation of a trend that's been present for...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Andy Black joins Franklin Bank Corp)(James E. Hays joins Wachovia Securities' )(James C. McGill retires from State Bank of Burlington)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... John A. Ward III has been named president and CEO of San Juan, PR-based Doral Financial Corp. Ward, who has been non-executive chairman since July and interim CEO since September, succeeds Zoila Levis. Franklin Bank Corp. of Houston, TX,...

Fresh Ink.(East West Bancorp buys Standard Bank )(Marshall & Ilsley Corp acquires Trustcorp Financial)(Cascade Bancorp acquires F&M Holding Co)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... 1. First Community Bancorp agreed to buy Foothill Independent Bancorp for $238 million to augment its operations in Los Angeles. First Community says Foothill's "high percentage" of non-interest bearing deposits was attractive, as well as its...

HSAs: U.S. Bank, Subimo to Share Platform: Institutional, retail clients can tap healthcare decision tools.(health-savings accounts)
February 1, 2006... In a nod to the growing importance of health-savings accounts, U.S. Bank has partnered with Subimo of Chicago to offer its platform of health decision-support tools to the bank's institutional clients' employees and retail customers. U.S....

Pipeline: Mellon Financial Combines 2 Units.(to create Mellon Asset Management)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mellon Financial Corp., the Pittsburgh, PA-based holding company of Mellon Bank, has combined its Dreyfus mutual fund and institutional-asset management units to create Mellon Asset Management. Mellon says the move better aligns its asset...

Moderate Exuberance for 2006, As Growth Predictions Hit 4%.(in banking industry and United States economy)
February 1, 2006... Financial professionals believe the U.S. economy will continue to grow at a moderate pace in 2006, according to a survey by the Association for Financial Professionals. Furthermore, treasury and finance professionals expect their companies to...

Noted and Noteworthy.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Executives at the tiny Bank of Kenny in Kenny, IL, are the kind of bankers who learn from their mistakes. When a 2003 robbery prompted the bank to install a high-tech camera security system, it paid off big-time on July 12, 2004, when it netted...

D.C. Girds for Predatory-Lending Fight: With the bankruptcy law under their belt, Republicans are ready to take on another liberal bane: a national predatory lending law. Will banks win if either of two bills survive?
February 1, 2006... Capitol Hill is gearing up for a contentious battle on a national mandate to prevent predatory mortgage lending, with legislators duking it out over two bills still stuck in the House Financial Services Committee. In one corner is the...

Comparison of U.S. House Predatory Lending Bills.
February 1, 2006... PROVISION 1. Points and fees definition for purposes of triggering protections for "high-cost" loan 2. Flipping 3. Protections against high-cost abuses 4. Prepayment penalties 5. Mandatory arbitration 6. Assignee...

Can Financial Firms Fight Phishing's Gains?: Banks are making anti-phishing progress, but seven of top 10 fraud sites capture bank account information. What more can banks be expected to do?
February 1, 2006... It's been three years since the first reports of phishing scams aimed at stealing account passwords started surfacing, and in spite of efforts to fight against the fraud, every month brings more waves of phishing attacks. In some ways, notably...

Data-Breach Notification: States Differ on When To Sound the Alarm: Legislative action on how and when to sound the alarm after an incident has lagged on the federal level, leading to a broad mix of state measures.
February 1, 2006... To all banks confronting disparate laws and regulations on data breach notification: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. feels your pain. Not in sympathy, mind you, but empathy. The agency faced a data-breach episode of its own earlier this...

User Glitches: Studying 'Intent' Is Rx for Service Pains: An institution's effort to tweak Web experience may not match users' real needs. So many firms are trying to monitor "intent" to forge the right trail to service upgrades.
February 1, 2006... She earns at least $150,000 a year. Unless she has a credit score lower than the family pet's, she's going to be worth as much as $2 million over the next 20 years after the bank approves her online application for a silver-level credit card....

Outsourcing: BB&T Taps Firm to Aid In Treasury Management: Complex corporate transactions are often global. That means working with multiple payment formats.
February 1, 2006... When a multinational corporation's looking for a financial institution to handle payments or wire transfers for a newly launched Asian subsidiary, the last thing the company wants to hear is that its bank can't work on the same electronic...

Charging Up The Aisle: American Express and The Knot are offering credit cards designed for wedding days and newlyweds. But are the deals designed to last until death do their partners part?
February 1, 2006... When it comes to The Big Day, the sound of wedding bells is trumped only by the ringing of cash registers. According to 10-year-old online wedding-planning community theknot.com, the average American wedding costs $25,000, and that figure, says...

AD Beat: Susquehanna Bank Blasts Its Smarty Pants Image: The Pennsylvania bank adopted "A Smarter Way to Make Money" tagline to unify the message of its acquisitions. It helps consumers get past competitors' messages.
February 1, 2006... Susquehanna Bancshares, a Lititz, PA-based financial holding company with assets of $7.5 billion and 156 affiliate bank locations, knew it had a branding problem. With its merger and acquisition activity heating up over the last few...

Solicitation: Attracting the Non-Customer: The most effective marketing efforts to reach the unbanked are those that offer a sense of community. This appeal can also help keep existing customers.
February 1, 2006... More than 13 percent of the nation's 105 million households have infrequent or nonexistent relationships with financial institutions, according to a study published last year by Global Advertising Strategies of New York. This unbanked segment...

Gimme Shelter.(real estate industry)
February 1, 2006... The strong U.S. housing market made it easy for lenders to focus on traditional site-built dwellings over the past decade. But as housing costs balloon and the median household income remains flat, more people have to make do with less....

They Might Be Giants: The Little Bank That Could: Despite shareholder rumblings, New Jersey's Interchange Bank is expanding its footprint throughout the state. And, no, Manhattan's allure isn't as strong as one might believe.
February 1, 2006... Affluent Bergen County, New Jersey, is a short drive but a world away from Manhattan: Centuries-old barns, little shops on tree-lined streets and four golf courses keep the citizenry happy on weekends. And since 1969, Saddle Brook, NJ-based...

Vineyard Pushes the Envelope Of Community Banking: In five years, Norman Morales has turned around a struggling $100 million bank, creating a $1.8 billion institution with quadruple-digit stock gains-all through organic growth. And he's not finished yet.
February 1, 2006... Norman Morales, president and CEO of Vineyard Bank, has a clear vision of where he wants to go and how to get there. And along the way he has learned how to pick his fights. Stock analysts who track the bank say that his previous experience...

Changing Attitudes on Debt Makes Planning a Must: Financial literacy skills are more important than ever these days, as Americans negotiate debt at every turn. Consumers may be more comfortable with debt, says a new study, but can that be healthy?
February 1, 2006... Those who believe that the only certainties in life are death and taxes can now add a third to the list: personal debt. A new study commissioned by LendingTree, an online lending exchange, finds that living with increasingly higher levels...

Handling Debt, Be They Rock Stars or Great-Depression Savers.
February 1, 2006... COLLEGE STUDENTS (17-27 years old) * The rising costs of college, coupled with lower liquid savings, have prompted families' increasing dependence on educational loans and other forms of borrowing. This contributes to a "cognitive...

Provident Rewards 'Primary Relationship' Loyalty: A customer-retention program recently rolled out by Provident Bank has no minimum asset requirement. And even though analysts say it makes sense, it is not necessarily a slam-dunk.
February 1, 2006... Provident Bank is embarking on a new program that is forward-thinking and based on sound market research, according to the bank as well as outside observers. But, oddly, its approach is atypical in the banking industry. The...

Uncle Sam Urges Small Businesses To Pay Taxes Electronically: The Treasury department is trying to get the word out to small-business owners that there is a better way to pay taxes than standing at the teller line. And banks have a key role in this new system.
February 1, 2006... The U.S. Department of the Treasury is heightening efforts to entice small businesses across the country to pay their taxes electronically, and banks will play a major role in those plans. Many small-business owners pay their taxes in a...

Banks Weigh in on Growing Baby Boomer Market: The last few years have seen the rise of the life-settlement market, and with an aging populace and coming securitizations, the field is poised for further growth. What does this mean for banks?
February 1, 2006... As the Baby Boomers continue to age, the life-settlement market is expected to thrive. According to a recent Bernstein Investment Research and Management report, the $13 billion business is projected to mushroom to $160 billion of insurance...

U.S. Banker Advertising Contacts.(Directory)
February 1, 2006... GROUP PUBLISHER David Cleworth 27700 Pine Point Drive Wesley Chapel, FL 33543 Tel: 813.929.6907 Fax: 813.929.6908 Outside the U.S. Please contact the Publisher U.S. BANKER ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVES ...

Creating Partnerships in A Payments 'Ecosystem'.
February 1, 2006... Why manage payments migration? Three distinct trends are converging to push banks to act now. First, consumer payments behavior, facilitated by banks responding to the Check 21 Act, has accelerated toward electronic payments such as ACH, credit...

Online Customer Priorities.(for financial information)
February 1, 2006... The business impact of investing in online customer experience initiatives can be substantial for financial services firms. But big technology barriers loom large for firms eager to improve their customers' Web experiences. What's more, few...