US Banker articles from June 2007

US Banker archives from June 2007

This Month.(Editorial)
June 1, 2007... 34 Cover Story: The Industry Embraces Mobile Banking-Again. Banks are pushing into wireless services for the second time this decade and, at least on the surface, the timing seems better today. More than 200 million Americans, about 70...

Correction.(Correction notice)
June 1, 2007... In the story "Nothing Says 'Prepared' Like Plastic" (May 2007), U.S. Banker incorrectly reported that Bank of America issued $200,000 in prepaid cards after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. BofA issued 200,000 prepaid cards through the Salvation...

Accountability at Issue in Data Security Failings: Enforcing stiffer criminal penalties is one way to hold merchants and data brokers more accountable. This is good news for banks.
June 1, 2007... Merchants and data brokers take note: Banks are serious about security, and they're going to legal lengths to prove it. In the wake of The TJX Companies' data breach, in which the personal information of 45.7 million credit and debit...

M&A: Private Equity Takes Aim At Financial-IT Vendors: More than $330 billion awaits deployment.(Statistical data)
June 1, 2007... Financial-IT companies are expected to lure a growing number of private-equity investors over the next few years, thanks to the dynamics of the industry and the huge amount of funds these investors have raised and want to put to work. The...

Scene and Heard.(Quotation)
June 1, 2007... "The biggest way to achieve top- and bottom-line growth is to narrow the gap between strategy and execution." Tom brown, CEO of Second Curve Capital, on what CEOs should focus on in retail banking. "We've been... through a shakeout,...

Hits and Has-Beens.(Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking appointed Arnaud Achour)(Whitney Holding Corp. appointed John C. Hope 3rd)(Wachovia Corp. appointed Ranjana Clark)
June 1, 2007... Vikram Pandit, a Morgan Stanley alum, now heads Citi's alternative-investments unit after the bank's acquisition of hedge-fund Old Lane Partners, which he founded. Sallie Krawcheck (left), Citigroup's new wealth-management head, has...

Top Banks Focus on the 'E' in ROE.(Statistical data)
June 1, 2007... (Top 200 Community banks ranked by 3-Year Average ROE) The most successful community banks are increasingly focused on a strategy of managing their capital base to increase returns on equity. By deploying their capital in more efficient...

Is Umpqua Cool? Maybe. Quirky? Yup. Successful? No Question About It.
June 1, 2007... Leading for Growth: How Umpqua Bank Got Cool and Created a Culture of Greatness By Ray Davis with Alan Shrader John Wiley & Sons, $24.95, 226 pages Can a book by a bank CEO really have something to say that hasn't been said...

After Supremes Ruled for OCC, Fight May Move to Capitol Hill.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
June 1, 2007... As expected, the Supreme Court negated potential legal challenges to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's preemption power over state laws, ruling 5 to 3 in April that state-chartered operating subsidiaries of national banks are...

Noted and Noteworthy.(report on Identity theft)(Northern Trust on energy saving)(Tim Montgomery Olympic gold medalist in money-laundering trial)
June 1, 2007... Nearly 62 percent of ID-theft victims were notified of suspicious activity by a financial-services company-their own or another, according to the Identity Theft Assistance Center. ITAC surveyed 771 victims who used its free service over a...

Is U.S. Serious on AML? Watch Macau.: The U.S. may have ruined the reputation of a tiny Macau bank, but what about its account holders? Keeping the international financial system clean is one goal, but is it enough?(Banco Delta Asia S.A.R.L. )
June 1, 2007... As the State and Treasury departments continue to bicker over how best to use a tiny Macau bank as a pawn in North Korea's nuclear negotiations, America's reputation as a fair and incorruptible cop on the international financial beat is being...

Cyber Security: Insurance Not Standard Yet, But Choices Abound: Typical policies now offer a range of protections, as data breaches become more problematic. But at what point should premiums be spent instead on shoring up security?
June 1, 2007... What's your best guess on how much it would cost your institution if someone in marketing lost a laptop with 10,000 customer records? ChoicePoint was said to have put the price tag at $100 per record. Ponemon Institute estimates $182 per...

Pricing, Rewards Drive Key Credit-Card Choices: Consumers were once less fickle about their cards, but no more. Today they want it all-with double points, if you please. Discover and Countrywide tap deeply into this demand.
June 1, 2007... Defaulting subprime mortgages, rising variable rates and a sluggish real-estate market seem to be taking their toll on the American psyche, as consumers show a growing inclination toward products that seemingly demonstrate increased financial...

AD Beat: Amex Taps Clients' Quest To Be With the In-Crowd: The new campaign is, well, a lot like previous ones: High-profile people as card members. The come-on includes travel benefits and rewards for that "special" feeling.(American Express)
June 1, 2007... Consumers have short attention spans, and so does American Express, which has uncharacteristically abandoned its three-year-old "My life. My card" campaign in favor of one that inquires, point blank: "Are you a card member?" (Translation:...

Mobile Banking's Second Act.
June 1, 2007... After an ill-fated spate of mobile-banking initiatives earlier this decade, some banks are again rushing to offer wireless services, convinced that the technology is ready for prime time even if carrier relations and technical standards remain...

Weighing Customization Against 'Bank-in-a-Box' Solutions: The ability to customize IT platforms could help small banks differentiate themselves, but they must be careful not to bite off more than they can chew. Partial outsourcing may do the trick.
June 1, 2007... Even though community banks compete mostly on service, many bankers still want the ability to adapt IT systems to gain a strategic edge. The question for banks with these aspirations-and whose IT departments are usually small and stretched...

Banks' Insurance Operations: Are Painful Lessons Paying Off?: Banks clamored for years for the right to underwrite and sell insurance, but few have proven adept at it. There are signs of progress, however, as some banks embrace the brokerage side and gain revenue.(Statistical data)
June 1, 2007... Since being granted the authority to underwrite and sell insurance in 1998, banks have excelled at neither. But now, some analysts say, the painful learning process is ending as banks make better decisions around acquiring and running these...

Union Bank of Cal's Edge Sharpens Its Diversity Success: Taking advantage of a little used Fed exemption, the bank made 263 loans to minority borrowers last year that would have been denied under the bank's usual lending criteria.
June 1, 2007... The ranks of black, Hispanic and Asian small-business owners are growing far faster than the number of white entrepreneurs, and one California bank has tapped that growth using a little-known Equal Credit Opportunity law exemption that allows...

Real Estate Futures Gain Momentum In the U.S.: Real estate may be king in the U.S., but until recently investors couldn't invest in the asset class's derivatives. Now, seven investment banks have licensed the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries' Index. Is optioning zip codes next?
June 1, 2007... Given the seemingly endless stream of derivatives available these days-everything from pensioner longevity bets to more than 500 proprietary weather indices-it's remarkable that U.S. investors haven't had access to commercial and residential...

Tapping, Keeping Top Talent Is Tough, But Worthwhile: What does it take to find and keep the best professionals? The key, not surprisingly, is compensation. If banks can meet this challenge, the prize is all theirs.
June 1, 2007... Identifying and attracting emerging talent-and holding onto successful producers-will remain an intensely competitive sport for banks' wealth-management divisions this year, say executive recruiters, particularly given the wide range of...

Giving the 'You Generation' The ATM Relationship It Craves.
June 1, 2007... The followers of YouTube and MySpace may not know it, but they're revolutionizing the way banking services are delivered. These You Generation channels are prompting financial institutions to review their retail-service delivery by integrating...