US Banker articles from February 2008

US Banker archives from February 2008

This Month.(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... 26 Cover Story: The Consequences of Risk Outpacing Reward The extent of the financial industrys credit troubles are not yet fully known so far, institutions have announced $100 billion in subprime-related writedowns but the pain is...

A Dream Unravels With Discontent Country-Wide: In 1969, two ambitious New Yorkers founded a company on the principle that homeownership is a fundamental right of those pursing the America dream. Thirty-nine years later, Countrywide is unraveling.
February 1, 2008... Angelo Mozilo and David Loeb, self-styled ambitious New Yorkers, once had a dream of founding a company built on the principle that all Americans should have the financial ability to become homeowners. That dream became Countrywide Financial...

Employment: As Recession Threatens, Banks Shed Mortgage Jobs: Risk-and wealth-management hiring is strong.
February 1, 2008... The last time the job outlook for mortgage bankers was this dismal, George Bush had just been elected presidentthe Bush whose vice president was Dan Qualye. Most lenders turned into workout specialists in the late 80s, says John Meeks,...

Scene and Heard.(banks make money from money)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... I can still remember saying, At last, weve discovered how to turn lead into gold. William Seidman, former FDIC chairman, reflecting on the RTCs somewhat regrettable discovery in the 1990s of how to tranche bad loans into securitized debt...

Marketing: Banks Target 25 Million Spending Eco-Consumers: How best to deliver 'green' rewards points?
February 1, 2008... When both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Norwegian Nobel Committee are of one mindthat Al Gores environmental activism has a game-changing roleone knows that eco-concerns are finally mainstream. That goes for banking...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Citigroup Inc. has named Vikram Pandit as chief executive and Win Bischoff as chairman)(Merrill Lynch appointed Nelson Chai)(Hanmi Financial Corp. appointed Brian E. Cho)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Citigroup has named Vikram Pandit (left) as chief executive and Win Bischoff (right) as chairman. COO Robert Druskin retired on January 1 after 16 years, replaced by Don Callahan. Merrill Lynch hired Nelson Chai, the outgoing CFO at NYSE...

Fresh Ink.(merger of Home Federal Bancorp and First Louisiana Bancshares)(meger of U.S.B. Holding Company Inc. and KeyCorp.)(merger of S and T Bancorporation Inc. and IBT Bancorp.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... 1. Shreveport, LA-based banks Home Federal Bancorp and First Louisiana Bancshares are merging. Home Federal is buying the $121 million-asset bank in a $24 million cash- and-stock deal. 2. U.S.B. Holding Co., the parent of Hudson Valley,...

Jury Awards California Bank $7 Million in Subprime Loan Flap.(Gateway Bank Federal Savings Bank)
February 1, 2008... Sometimes, the bank wins. A Miami jury recently sided with a San Francisco federal savings bank, Gateway Bank Federal Savings Bank, the defendant in a lender-liability suit under a repurchase agreement on a portfolio of 35 subprime mortgage...

Noted and Noteworthy.(bankers consider biometrics a potential security option)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Many bankers consider biometrics a potential security option, but for one bank in India biometrics is a basic necessity for its illiterate customers to do business. Indian Banks biometric ATM uses a fingerprint-scanning technology to...

Pop the Bubble? Or Pump It Up?: Yes, central bankers want to ease commercial banks' pain, but is providing liquidity delaying the inevitable? If recession is medicine the economy needs, why not get it over with?
February 1, 2008... The globes central banks auctions to pump more liquidity into the worlds financial markets actually may be aggravating banks thorny economic situation and prolonging the inevitable recession, say economists. In the most coordinated effort...

Peer-to-peer Lending: The Rise of Lending Communities: P2P exchanges are growing rapidly in terms of membership and loans funded, defaults are miniscule, and now there's talk of a secondary market for these loans.
February 1, 2008... To the financial services industry, peer-to-peer lending might still seem little more than a novelty acta venue for a tiny fraction of lenders and borrowers to deal directly with each other. But for the people running these lending...

Turning Up the Volume On 401(k) Conversation: Do banks not realize the trillions of Baby Boomer retirement dollars at stake? Or, faced with intense competition from investment firms, have they just given up?
February 1, 2008... With trillions of dollars at stake, institutions such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard and Edward Jones have muscled their way into the retirement market over the past decade while leaving banks in the dust. Investment firms have been so...

AD Beat: Citi's New Ads: Tapping The 'Too Cute' Factor: Citi card's new campaign features the problem-solving ability of the Citi credit card. But are the ads too cute for comfort-or do they cross the line into being "trite?".
February 1, 2008... Citi Cards knows consumers like stories. So the giant card company collected a bunch of feel-gooders, added the appropriate artwork or video components, and sent them off to become another chapter in its Advertising Legend. Its a creative...

Risk Without Reward.(subprime mess)
February 1, 2008... The meltdown of 2007 exposed the industrys blind spots for risk, particularly as it ricocheted between the disparate and competing interests of lenders, servicers, traders and investors. The result was that many firms took on risk that far...

Small Banks Get Sassy With SaaS IT Delivery: While many bankers may assume SaaS is really the same as older ASP services, industry experts argue there are big advantages to SaaS, specifically around cutting compliance and IT costs.(Software as a Service)
February 1, 2008... SaaS: Its the acronym that stands for Software as a Service, and its on the lips of community bankers everywhere who want to outsource their IT demands. Consider it a revamped version of the older application-service-provider, or ASP, model....

Decoupled Relationships: The Evolution of Debit: Since Capital One unveiled its decoupled debit card last year, the industry has been scrambling to cope with this disruptive technology. Now banks need to focus on improving loyalty programs.
February 1, 2008... The days of decoupled debit cards are upon us. And while it may not be a particularly welcome innovation from banks point of view, since it reduces their transaction fees, customers will certainly benefit. One of the outcomes will be to drive...

Desperately Seeking Sticky Relationships: Small businesses need many of the same payment services banks offer the big boys. And banks that help small businesses stay afloat are those institutions that flourish themselves.
February 1, 2008... Small-business payment needs is an area where many banks arent delivering. Missing in action, by and large, on banks small-business Websites are charts for payables/receivables, spending reports, tax-paying and foreign-currency services and...

Waiting for the Other Shoe To Drop? Not Really.: The corporate-loan market isn't tanking yet, but the easy money from many big lenders is a thing of the past. For the well-positioned mid-tier bank, it may create a chance to grab market share.
February 1, 2008... Well soon see how contagious the mortgage flu is for other banking business lines, particularly corporate lending. But right now the patient is looking a little pale. True, the corporate market fared better than the mortgage market in...

New Tools Empower Today's Time-Strapped Advisors: Wealth-management products are evolving into "lighter" tools that keep things simple and help wealth advisors do their jobs better than ever. Three in particular are gaining traction.
February 1, 2008... The world of a wealth-management advisor is not an easy one, given the seem- ingly endless amount of information to consider, the need to constantly evaluate new financial products, and a tax environment always in flux, but there is hope. Over...

Recession: Just Say It Already!: Politicians are loathe to utter the "R" word, but it might be just what the country needs to hear. If recessions are medicine, then better to gulp it down now. The alternative is many more months of unhealthy living.
February 1, 2008... November 29, 2007: The U.S. economy remains broadly healthythe unemployment rate is low, core inflation is contained, and strong foreign growth is boosting exports. Henry M. Paulson, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury January 7, 2008: We...

Responding to the Demands Of Mobile-Banking Consumers.
February 1, 2008... Given the rapid growth of the mobile-banking market, the time is right for competitive institutions to deploy enterprise cross-selling options. There is no doubt that mobile devices will change the way banks of all sizes do business and...

Beyond the Basics Of HSAs and HDHPs.(health savings accounts)(high-deductible health plan)
February 1, 2008... Health savings accounts have been a growing part of the health-benefit-plan landscape since 2004. An individual in a high-deductible health plan, or HDHP, is permitted to contribute the amount of the annual deductible to an HSA every year that...