Banking Wire articles from March 2006

Banking Wire archives from March 2006

Members Turn Out To Oppose Conversion Bid.
March 1, 2006... DEARBORN, Mich. -- Two-thirds of the members who turned out at the annual meeting of DFCU Financial here, which is seeking to become a bank, voted in favor of a resolution to the board that the conversion bid be withdrawn. But many of...

One-Time CDCU Leader Charged In Fraud.
March 1, 2006... SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Carol Aranjo, long a leading national spokesperson for community development credit unions, was charged by NCUA last week in a civil suit with fraud and negligence in the 2003 failure of D. Edward Wells FCU, the CDCU she...

On Deadline.
March 1, 2006... Miss. CU Reps Get A Special Valentine GULFPORT Miss.-More than 340 credit union employees and volunteers around the state still recovering from Hurricane Katrina got a special Valentine on Valentine's Day-a rose and a $200 check. An...

Authorities Tracking Scammers Who Captured Debit Cards, PINs.
March 1, 2006... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- U.S. and international authorities last week were tracking an international debit card ring that has apparently gained access to customer databases at two national retailers and used the accounts to manufacture phony debit...

Study Examines CU Employees Beliefs, Weak Points.
March 1, 2006... MADISON, Wis. -- There's been a great deal of discussion surrounding what members and consumers think of credit unions, but what do credit union employees think both of their employer and credit unions in general? One study has produced...

Dog-Day Afternoon For One Robber.
March 1, 2006... KENNEWICK, Wash -- K-9 Deke made one last trot around the bases last week. The Kennewick Police dog is being credited with tracking down a suspect who robbed two credit unions to make his final arrest. Police say the eight-year-old Deke,...

Worth Noting.(Obituary)
March 1, 2006... Linda Johnson Passes Away MADISON, Wis.-Linda Johnson, the wife of CUES CEO Fred Johnson, has died from complications of lung cancer. A memorial service is being held Friday. In addition to Fred, Linda is survived by four sons: Rob, Pat,...

Don't Forget To Tune In For These Olympic-Like Games.
March 1, 2006... The scene: NBC's Winter Olympics TV Studios, several months from now after the Winter Olympics have concluded in Torino, Italy, and the first-ever Credit Union Olympics are taking place. Anchoring the action is Bob CUstas, nephew to the NBC...

Oregon CU Credits Rival's Advertising For Membership Boost.
March 1, 2006... PORTLAND, Ore. -- One credit union in this state has seen an influx in members-and it's crediting the name change and subsequent media campaign of another credit union for much of the business. The $2.2-billion Portland Teachers Credit...

America First Rolls Out Online Business Bill Pay Service.
March 1, 2006... SALT LAKE CITY -- America First Credit Union, the largest CU in Utah, has introduced an online business bill pay service. Businesses can pay multiple authorized invoices to vendors with a single check, set up multiple authorized users with...

First Financial Throws A 'Safety Line' To Certain Members.
March 2, 2006... LUTHERVILLE, Md. -- First Financial FCU is throwing out a safety line to members who might otherwise reach out to predatory payday lenders. Called Safety Line, the new service is sort of a twist on courtesy pay programs and offers a less...

Product & Service.
March 2, 2006... FSCC Returns Record Dividend SAN DIMAS, Calif.-Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Inc. said it has returned its largest patronage dividend ever to shareholders- nearly $1.8 million. Following completion of an April audit, the funds...

The CU Journal Daily.
March 2, 2006... Ad Campaign Goes For The Gold MECHANICSBURG, Pa.-A new advertising campaign launched by AmeriChoice FCU features former Olympic Gold Medal winner and long-time AmeriChoice member Diann Roffe. The campaign, running in local newspapers,...

Redwood CU Offers A Fresh Start In Checking (And Cash For Bill Pay).
March 2, 2006... SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- The beginning of a calendar year is a time for vows to change, begin anew and improve. In the case of Redwood Credit Union, its "healthy start" checking promotion taps into this spirit of a new beginning. The...

Product & Service.
March 2, 2006... Corp. One Announces Speakers... COLUMBUS, Ohio-Corporate One FCU has released the speaker line-up for its third annual Economic Forum, scheduled for March 22 at the Marriott Indianapolis North. Speakers will include Steven Rick, senior...

Two Credit Unions Select PWCampbell.
March 2, 2006... PITTSBURGH -- PWCampbell has signed contracts for design/build services with two credit unions: Vantage Point FCU in Hopewell, Va. (for a new main office) and Westmoreland Community FCU in Greensburg, Penn., for a branch renovation. For...

HBE Financial Facilities Selected By Three CUs.
March 2, 2006... ST. LOUIS -- HBE Financial Facilities reported it has won $15 million in new contracts to build facilities for three credit unions: La Loma FCU in Loma Linda, calif., Northeast Pennsylvania Community FCU in Stroud Township, Penn., and...

Merrimack Valley At Center Of Redevelopment Effort.
March 2, 2006... LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Merrimack Valley FCU has broken ground on its new headquarters in an abandoned mill building on the banks of the Merrimack River, the anchor of a redevelopment of the massive complex. The $400-million credit union has...

Reader Question One.
March 2, 2006... We have ATMs at all of our branches. As long as we have an ATM at each branch, does it matter where at that branch it is located? Is there any reason we should try to have some sort of consistency of ATM placement across all branches, or is it...

Reader Question Two.
March 2, 2006... I came to credit union from the retail industry, and I was wondering if there is a formula for credit union facilities similar to the sales- per-square-foot formula we used in the retail world to determine how large of a space is needed for a...

Why Developing A Branch Performance Index Is Critical For Identifying Sites.
March 3, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- Wanting to place branches in convenient locations is the easy part. It's identifying those convenient locations that's the challenge, noted two experts who offered advice on the process. Gary Raddon, chairman of Oak Brook...

Bear Paw Has A Gas With New Office.
March 3, 2006... CHINOOK, Montana -- Bear Paw Credit Union here has turned an historic gas station into its new branch office. The credit union has renovated a gas station originally built in the 1930s and home to Dave's Texaco for more than 60 years....

Study Details Amount Of Waste In FEMA Payments.
March 3, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Millions, perhaps billions of dollars in federal aid doled out to victims of Hurricane Katrina were wasted either through fraud or plain incompetence, a new government audit disclosed last week. Emergency assistance...

Fed Now Sending Images Via Payments Network.
March 3, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve is now sending images to financial institutions via SVPCO-Image Payments Network, one of three major check clearing networks, The Fed announced last week. The Fed sent its first images to National City...

The Insurance Revolution.
March 3, 2006... Life insurance products are changing the face of traditional bank brokerage. The reason? People need insurance and if their banks don't offer it, they'll find it somewhere else. And banks don't want that. Financial advisers don't either,...

LPL Acquisition Emphasizes Fee-Based Priority: Are more banks looking to buy independent broker-dealers?
March 3, 2006... Two private investors' acquisition of LPL Financial late last year appears to be yet another validation of the financial services industry's push into fee- based accounts, a direction most bank broker-dealers have been slow to pursue. Now it...

B Share Fines Strike Again as Issue Matures.
March 3, 2006... Three more brokerage houses received regulatory slaps in December for the improper sale of Class B shares, an issue that may be winding itself down after the industry takes steps to address it. Morgan Stanley took the first wallop in late...

New VA Living Benefits Offer Flexibility, Control.
March 3, 2006... After several years of bad press and regulatory scrutiny, variable annuities (VAs) may be turning the corner in the public's eye as insurance companies continue to add features that give investors more choices and control. In...

Product News.
March 3, 2006... AIG SunAmerica Retirement Markets has added MarketLock, a living benefit option, to its Polaris and Seasons variable annuities. MarketLock locks in market gains annually and automatically for at least 10 years while insuring portfolios will...

Tools & Resources.
March 3, 2006... Financial Forum Publishing has released The Trust Equation, by Steven Drozdeck and Lyn Fisher. The book is a series of chapters by various industry authors, illustrating an "investor's guide to selecting a competent, ethical financial...

Taking Stock of 115 Years Of Financial Innovation: Innovation was never in short supply with Citibank's Walter Wriston, J.P. Morgan's Till Guldimann and CheckFree's Peter Kight. What's more, their contributions helped build empires- and cinched their legacies.
March 6, 2006... The late Walter Wriston was a man known for not mincing his words. "The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of his or her organization is going to blow the competition away," he once said. Wriston knew a thing or...

Sagging Confidence: Bankers' Mood Plunges On Economy, Sector in '06: Do dark clouds portend a recession?
March 6, 2006... Bankers were generally optimistic about their industry in late 2005. Credit quality was high, demand for commercial loans remained strong, and the yield curve had been flat for so long that it was bound to improve soon. Right? In a...

Scene and Heard.
March 6, 2006... "The Internet really leveled the playing field, so you are no longer in charge of the customer. Now the customer is in charge of you." Celia Rocks, marketing consultant, on how easy it is for customers to identify alternative banking...

Economic-Capital Planning: Technique No Longer Only for the Big Boys: Review prompts banks to kill sub-par products.
March 6, 2006... Financial institutions can realize the full potential of economic capital as a planning tool to fulfill shareholder wealth if they are savvy in applying it, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report. Economic capital, says Guillermo...

Fresh Ink.
March 6, 2006... 1. Cascade Bancorp will buy Idaho-based Farmers and Merchants State Bank for $147 million in cash and stock. The deal, which gives Cascade $2 billion in assets, provides a strategic expansion opportunity in that area. 2. First Place...

Home Sweet Home: How Fifth Third rep John Schablein built up a multi-rep practice where he was born and raised.(Company Profile)
March 6, 2006... John Schablein, an investment consultant and regional manager at Fifth Third Securities, Fifth Third Bank's investment subsidiary, built a business in his hometown from the ground up. Ten years later, he manages a team of advisers in...

Covering All Bases: Some banks are integrating life insurance into their product plan, but it's not easy.(Company Profile)
March 6, 2006... Randy Schmidt, a certified financial planner (CFP) and Investment Centers of America rep at Valley Ridge Bank in Kent City, Mich., reckons that a full 15% of his revenue this year will come from life insurance. That's unusually high in the...

Glossary.(Glossary)
March 6, 2006... Term Life Insurance: Pays out upon the policyholder's death within a specified time period. The most simple form of life insurance and, hence, frequently sold through platform reps. Whole Life Insurance: The most basic form of cash-value...

Partnering For Profit: LaSalle Bank units pull together to offer clients a watertight financial services package.
March 6, 2006... While building a cohesive and productive team-based approach is still on the drawing board at many banks, LaSalle Bank Corp.'s two subsidiaries instituted a company-wide strategic initiative last year that is already paying dividends....

Shopping for Commercial Clients: How meeting small-business owners' diverse insurance needs can cement the client relationship.
March 6, 2006... Running a small business is often an all-consuming exercise: Entrepreneurs must manage everything from employees to customers and finances. It's the kind of schedule that keeps people focused almost exclusively on the here-and-now, with...

Peeking Around Economic Corners: Seeking Realistic, Accurate Predictors.
March 8, 2006... Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles By Joseph H. Ellis Harvard Business School Press 276 pages, $29.95 GDP, inflation, unemployment, consumer confidence, durable-goods orders, the...

Supreme Court Win Tallied For Wachovia Corp., OCC.
March 8, 2006... Wachovia Corp., other national banks and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency scored a big victory in January when the Supreme Court ruled that lawsuits against national banks may be heard in federal courts rather than in multiple...

Noted and Noteworthy.
March 8, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission is backing sweeping new rules to increase disclosure to stockholders on executives' pay and perks. SEC chairman Chris Cox said the rules would give investors more and better information about the...

Branch Security: Can Rural Banks Learn From Bank of Kenny?: High-tech systems are key for small town banks.
March 8, 2006... Rural community banks are especially vulnerable to robberies, which soared 25 percent nationwide between 1999 and 2001, according to the FBI's most recent data. Witness the Jan. 27 attempted robbery of a Bank of America branch in rural...

Spin City: Taylor's FDIC Nomination Gets Pulled by White House: NRA denies involvement in the withdrawal.
March 8, 2006... The truth behind why the White House pulled the name of Diana Taylor, superintendent of the New York State Banking Department, as a potential nominee to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may never be known, but that hasn't stopped the...

Pipeline: Americans Fret Most about ID Theft.
March 8, 2006... What keeps Americans up at night? According to a survey recently released by Visa International, 64 percent of respondents said the loss of personal or financial information was their biggest fear, more so than environmental damage (62...

CIO Survey Indicates Big Change On Their Horizon.
March 8, 2006... Peter Drucker once said that "in a...a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not...

Money Laundering: Correspondent Bankers: How Much Is Enough?: New Treasury guidelines on how banks are to comply with customer and asset identity don't smooth nerves frayed by high-profile busts for lax AML controls.
March 8, 2006... The U.S. Treasury Department's new guidance on how financial services companies are to follow the anti-money laundering guidelines was supposed to codify the risk-based assessments already being done for most correspondent banking...

News Makers.
March 8, 2006... Web Transaction Fears Rise, But So Does Use RSA's first-ever international Internet Confidence Index shows consumers and businesses in the U.S. and Europe are worried about network vulnerability and identity theft, but it's not quelling...

Top Tech Deals.
March 8, 2006... Number One Getronics has inked a deal to provide desktop and application management support to Barclays, an arrangement that will cover more than 30,000 users. It's the largest contract ever signed by Getronics, totaling more than $300...

Regulation: Calling On XBRL: Expansion The new call reporting platform for banks may be the push to upgrade SEC and Street disclosure as well.
March 8, 2006... There used to be two deadlines for filing call reports, according to FDIC associate statistics director Martin Henning. The first was the standard quarterly due date for submission to FFIEC agencies. The second was the unofficial window banks...

Techies.
March 8, 2006... Alert Logic, a provider of network surveillance and defense solutions, named Steve Kahan as president and CEO. * Stan Paur will become chairman of Pulse EFT Association, an ATM/debit network unit of Discover Financial Services, effective...

Getting The Message: IM's Here To Stay. And So Are The Security Woes.: While threats to Instant Messaging are quickly on the rise, researchers say companies are lagging in providing adequate security.
March 9, 2006... Instant messaging's always been a bit of a wildcard for firms, which have to grapple with what kind of use and how much access to extend to employees-who in some cases were responsible for the technology's introduction at their workplaces...

Online customer experience: Banks Still Need Better Web Foundation: A new survey from Keane indicates banks and other financial firms know they have to improve the look, feel and capabilities of their sites. First things first, though.
March 9, 2006... Financial services firms believe that improving the online customer experience can be a significant revenue growth driver. But giving customers the graphical and feature-rich architecture needed to spur more business and screen-time is going to...

Insurance House Finds A New Definition of ROI: Before IT improvements can be made, Golden says it's important to figure out how to define "improvement".
March 9, 2006... When Insurance House named Robert Golden director of strategic business services about two and a half years ago, it was clear to him the firm's technology operation needed a house cleaning. Figuring out what rooms should come first and what...

Automating Processing: A New Reconciliation For Product Delivery: Charter One and Suncorp Group find that by centralizing account reconciliations, transactions are more accurate, and risk management and compliance are improved as well.
March 9, 2006... A key component of a financial product's success is how smoothly and accurately a bank can fulfill customer-facing transactions. Institutions like Charter One and the Suncorp Group have found centralizing and automating reconciliations can...

Managed Security Services: Joining Security Risk's Four Horses: MSSP players like Getronics and SecureWorks are grabbing a share of a growing market for services that combine risk monitoring, compliance, vulnerability and information protection.
March 9, 2006... The managed security services market continues to attract small banks, and an increasing number of large banks-witness Barclay's recent award of a five-year deal to Getronics to take over management of 30,000 desktops and applications,...

Changing the Way We Work: Globalization is wreaking havoc on America's labor market, with more jobs lost to outsourcing and wages of remaining jobs lagging inflation. The U.S. must adapt or die.
March 9, 2006... The outlook for the majority of America's workers is cloudy, eroded by stagnating wages, increased outsourcing of jobs and unchecked illegal immigration. Over the last five years, from 2000 to 2005, Americans' wages have not kept pace...

Wealth Management: Removing the Dark Veil Of Ultra-Wealth Stealth: A group of cashed-out executives channel their disappointment in mega-money counseling into a service that private bankers use for a rich client's query: How much am I worth?
March 9, 2006... It's a nice problem to have, but it's still a problem. The growing diversity of investments made by ultra-rich clients of private banks and top brokerages leave these Daddy Warbuckses unsure of what they're worth at any given time. The...

Authentication: The Big Security Choice: To Be Visible or Not?: WaMu, Boiling Springs take different security paths.
March 9, 2006... When the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council established its two-factor authentication guidelines in October 2005, it gave the industry until the end of 2006 to conform. Two banks at opposite ends of the size spectrum-Washington...

Fraud Scoring: An Early Look At Corporate Trouble: D&B, Experian products gain bankers' attention.
March 9, 2006... Banks have long analyzed prospective corporate customers before extending loans. But that analysis is usually limited to the creditworthiness of the firm and, in the case of small businesses, the credit scores of the principals involved. Now,...

Banks Take to the 'Net To Share Their Message: In deciding where to spend their marketing dollars, banks increasingly are heading online. The two hottest channels? Email and search-engine programs.
March 9, 2006... Could it be the tech bubble is re-inflating? While the world may never again see the halcyon days of 1999, recent research by Forrester indicates banks' online marketing and advertising is poised for a boom. In 2010, Forrester finds, marketers...

Day-in-the-Park Bench Keeps It Easy for ING: ING U.S. Financial Services might be debuting a new campaign, but it's still sticking with what works best. It realizes that consumers like things to be easy.
March 10, 2006... Just because it's always been a hard-knock life doesn't mean people have gotten used to it. And when it comes to financial planning, the harder it gets, the more likely consumers are to avoid the issue altogether. According to a recent...

Bankers Brace for the Storm That Is Wal-Mart: There is a broad array of opinions among bankers regarding Wal- Mart's request for an ILC, even while the retailer continually gives assurances that banks have no reason to fear.
March 10, 2006... The notion of competing against Wal-Mart has sent many community bankers and their trade associations into a tizzy. The nasty rumors of last year-that the largest U.S. company was preparing an application for a financial foothold-came true and...

Tough Act To Follow: Richard Kovacevich's 20-year run at Wells Fargo is nearing an end. His heir apparent, COO John Stumpf, is the popular in-house choice, and has what it takes to maintain the culture and keep the team together. But can he duplicate his mentor's strategic success?
March 10, 2006... When Wells Fargo & Co. announced another year of record earnings in January, there was plenty of performance data to crow about. So casual observers might have been surprised that one of the first things CFO Howard Atkins addressed in the...

Value of Bank Deals Plunged in 2005: The number of M&A deals remained relatively flat last year, but their combined value fell through the floor. This year is not looking a lot better, but 2007 holds some promise, say analysts.
March 10, 2006... Even though the number of bank mergers and acquisitions in 2005 kept pace with the previous couple of years, the aggregate value of those deals plunged by 78 percent. And while there are some hot spots where observers expect to see value...

Community Bankers Face A Slew of Issues This Year: The ongoing fight with big credit unions is far from the only worrisome item for community bankers. In fact, those looking for a reason to worry have their pick of issues.
March 10, 2006... For those who thought that community bankers have a stress-free life of glad-handing and sponsoring local sports events, guess again. Based on a round of interviews with bankers, regulators and industry associations, the executives who run...

GAC Draws 4,000-Plus To Washington: 'Documenting Service' Focus Of Much Discussion.
March 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- CUNA drew the largest crowd in the history of its Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) last week, with more than 4,000 on hand for the event that has now officially outgrown its long-time home. With no direct threats to...

Well-Funded Group Forms To Fight Bids To Convert; Mich. CU Suing State League.
March 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The organized credit union movement began to mobilize last week against the growing threat of conversions to mutual savings bank, as the size of the credit unions undergoing the controversial charter change continues to...

In Hearing, Banks Object To Plans For CU-Owned Credit Card Banks.
March 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- A new impediment to regulatory relief emerged last week during hearings before the Senate Banking Committee when the bankers raised objections to two credit union projects in the works that would create credit card banks for...

Short Comment Period, Short Responses.
March 10, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- In the briefest of public comment periods, credit union representatives told NCUA last week they support efforts to illustrate their member service to Congress, but questioned the methodology of the pilot data collection...

Penn. Court Rules For CUs In FOM Lawsuit.
March 10, 2006... HARRISBURG, Penn. -- Credit unions won a lawsuit on field of membership here last week when the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled unanimously to dismiss a lawsuit filed by bankers over the community charters granted to TruMark Financial...

Market Players Scrutinize Profitability of Small-Biz Loans: Just how lucrative are small-business loans? That question draws various responses, but one thing is certain: Community banks need to keep issuing them.
March 13, 2006... Small-business lending, the bread-and-butter asset class of many small banks, has seen percentage increases hovering between three percent and four percent over the past two years, reflecting a significant slowdown from the 1990s when...

Is It Better To Give Than to Receive?: Gift annuities are the present that keeps on giving. And for banks like Wells Fargo, which administer these annuities, it can be a boon to fee income.
March 13, 2006... Interesting times tend to foster new ways to spend and invest money, and the present is no exception. Those seeking to make large charitable donations-but who perhaps aren't wealthy enough to do so outright-are increasingly finding an...

Back in from the Cold: Controversial SPACs Return: In a tough IPO market, deals involving special-purpose-acquisition companies are rising. Attracted to the market are Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
March 13, 2006... It is not a robust IPO market by any stretch of the imagination. But one type of company making an impressive resurgence in the IPO market is the special-purpose-acquisition company, or SPAC. About two dozen SPACs were completed in 2005 in...

Strengthening AML Programs: The Time is Now, Not Tomorrow.
March 13, 2006... For the past several years, banks have worked to meet the USA Patriot Act's anti-money laundering requirements by modifying and updating existing AML programs. Yet banks still face significant regulatory scrutiny and higher penalties and...

On Deadline.
March 13, 2006... CURIA Legislation Will Likely Have To Wait WASHINGTON-Congressional banking committees are likely to remain occupied with an omnibus regulatory relief for credit unions, banks and thrifts in the months before this fall's elections, making...

Highest Honors Are Presented To Individuals, Groups.
March 13, 2006... WASHINGTON -- As part of GAC last week, the National Credit Union Foundation's Wegner Awards honored several people and organizations with the credit union movement's highest honors for their achievements. Below is a look at each: *...

Worth Noting.
March 13, 2006... Walters Promoted At NCUA ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA has named Region IV Director Jane A. Walters as its new NCUA deputy executive director, assisting Executive Director Len Skiles in managing the daily operation of the agency. Walters has been...

What Could Effect GAC Most Was 500 Miles To The West.
March 13, 2006... The most interesting thing to occur during last week's CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference happened 520 miles away in Dearborn, Mich. There, DFCU Financial Credit Union filed suit against the Michigan league claiming it was interfering with...

Why The Internet Must Be Embraced For Raising Funds.
March 13, 2006... As soon as Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and the catastrophic impact became evident, the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) activated its Disaster Relief Fund. While other charities and relief organizations were raising funds...

Product & Service.
March 13, 2006... FICS Partners With MGIC DALLAS-Financial Industry Computer Systems, Inc. (FICS) has partnered with MGIC in Wisconsin to launch an upgrade to Mortgage Servicer, a residential mortgage loan servicing program which includes a loan boarding...

Wealth Management: Powering Alternative Investments With New Tools: IT players line up with new products to take advantage of expansion of instruments such as hedge funds.
March 14, 2006... Hedge funds offer a bedeviling challenge for financial advisors trying to marry their wealthy clients' investment goals with specific hedge funds and then manage that relationship. For starters, each hedge fund is different, with its own...

De Novo Branching: Banks Turn Into Location Scouts: When establishing new locations for branches or banking centers, are banks better off crunching data, or simply keeping an eye out for high- growth regions?
March 14, 2006... It seems obvious, at least in theory: When a bank is looking to expand its reach, opening branches in high-growth areas is the best strategy. But as increasing numbers of banks are turning to data- crunching companies like MapInfo of Troy, NY,...