Community Banker articles from July 2004

Community Banker archives from July 2004

Helping customers manage wealth enriches banks, too.(front matter)(Money Concepts International Inc.)(Community banks)
July 1, 2004... The time may be ripe for banks to ratchet up their focus on helping customers manage money. The mortgage boom is winding down, interest rates are heading up, and the stock market has largely regained its footing. "As interest rates go up,...

Saving for the future.(chairman's corner)(Social Security)
July 1, 2004... There's a new challenge awaiting community bankers who are helping customers plan for retirement. "Unless action is taken soon to strengthen Social Security, in just 15 years we will begin paying more in benefits than we collect in taxes,"...

Credit Union Coordinating Council formed to combine efforts of the ACB, ABA, ICBA.(acb news)(America's Community Bankers)(American Bankers Association)(Independent Community Bankers of America)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... America's Community Bankers, the American Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America have jointly formed the Inter-Trade Credit Union Coordinating Council. The council, created June 2, is designed as a way to...

The house that ACB staff built.(acb news)(America's Community Bankers)(Housing Partners Foundation)
July 1, 2004... Thirty-three staff volunteers from America's Community Bankers swapped their telephones and computers for shovels and caulk guns during the first week of June. The occasion was a Habitat for Humanity construction project in Washington,...

Regulatory relief needed, ACB tells Congress.(acb news)(America's Community Bankers)
July 1, 2004... Layers of regulation are a heavy burden preventing community banks from fully supporting the financial needs of their communities, America's Community Bankers testified before Congress in May. "As a community banker, I see projects that...

Senate passes multi-year flood insurance bill.(acb news)(National Flood Insurance Program)(America's Community Bankers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Things are looking up for the National Flood Insurance Program. The Senate on June 16 unanimously adopted a bill that would reauthorize the program through 2009. And, as Community Banker went to press, the House of Representatives was expected...

Government relations welcomes a new VP, marks a promotion.(acb news)(America's Community Bankers)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... William "Ike" Jones has been hired as a vice president and legislative counsel for America's Community Bankers government relations staff. He started May 10. "Ike Jones brings more than 15 years of experience on banking legislative and...

Bankers meet and greet at Massachusetts event.(acb news)(America's Community Bankers)
July 1, 2004... America's Community Bankers hosted a reception for member and non-member bankers on April 7 in Newton, Mass. Bankers were treated to a presentation on the social, political, and demographic forces affecting the cost of capital, as well as a...

For your summer reading pleasure: banking's future.(nationwide news)
July 1, 2004... A torrent of research on the outlook for banking in the next five to 10 years is emerging from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC released the four latest papers in its Future of Banking series in May, bringing the total to five...

OCC banks to perform risk management.(nationwide news)(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is cautioning national banks to be prudent when implementing new products or services. The OCC issued a bulletin May 10 reminding banks of the risk management process needed to implement new,...

FHLBank of Chicago's Alex Pollock resigns.(nationwide news)(Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Alex Pollock, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago for the past 12 years, has announced his resignation to join the American Enterprise Institute as a resident fellow. A successor was to be named on...

Compliance corner: rules for customers' revocable trust accounts.(nationwide news)
July 1, 2004... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., earlier this year, revised its rules related to living trusts. The new rules, which became effective April 1, affect the insurance coverage For these accounts in the event of a bank failure. A living...

Staying involved in the community helps bay-vanguard plan ahead.(grass roots)
July 1, 2004... As a community bank, it is Bay-Vanguard Federal Savings Bank's philosophy to be involved in all aspects of developing or improving the communities in which we do business. It would seem to me that the people who go into public service share...

Behind the scenes at ACB's community bank investor conference.
July 1, 2004... Culminating months of planning and development, America's Community Bankers' inaugural Community Bank Investor Conference exceeded all expectations. The event, held in New York on May 11, drew 200 participants, including 100 analysts and...

Finding an ocean of opportunity in second home loans.
July 1, 2004... What's the difference between a vacation home and a primary residence? Not much, other than the views, say many bankers, for whom loans on the two types of properties have become nearly indistinguishable. "Second homes and vacation...

The cross-sales puzzle: putting the right pieces in place.(Al Herrman Training and Management Consulting)
July 1, 2004... In 2000, Lynn Sander found out something alarming about her bank's employees--they had no idea how to sell. Sander had just been hired as senior vice president of retail banking at Home Federal Savings and Loan Association in Nampa, Idaho,...

Thinking big: how banks can leverage relationships with investments services providers to serve the needs of wealthy customers.
July 1, 2004... Community banks have a tremendous chance to capture more business from their high net worth customers. The protracted bear market and numerous scandals over the past few years have eroded many wealthy people's trust in their brokers. But...

Letting them earn it: compensation strategies for your securities sales force.
July 1, 2004... A good investment salesperson is hard to find--and even harder to keep, say community bankers who are competing with the nation's brokerage firms for a limited supply of qualified candidates. Offering pay based on commission is increasingly...

Summer heats up at the National School of Banking.
July 1, 2004... Most schools shut their doors when the temperature rises. But in Fairfield, Conn., summertime brings the start of classes at the National School of Banking. The National School has been drawing bankers from across the country since its...

Applying wealth management's lessons to the Community Bank's own capital.(investment management)
July 1, 2004... The theme of this month's issue of Community Banker is "wealth management." When bankers talk about wealth management, they are generally discussing the kinds of services banks can provide to customers to help them create and manage their...

Using a bank's Web site for corporate disclosure.(legal briefs)
July 1, 2004... In the dark ages before the World Wide Web, public companies submitted Securities and Exchange Commission filings in paper format. With the advent of the Internet, the SEC began requiring companies to file reports in electronic format, greatly...

Emerging markets: a timely opportunity for Community Bankers.(business solutions)
July 1, 2004... "Do well by doing good," the saying goes, and today's mortgage lenders should consider those words as the key to a tremendous new business opportunity. Changing mortgage market conditions makes now the time to expand outreach to the "emerging...

Cash management services are becoming more common.(technology report)
July 1, 2004... Community banks are aggressively launching into the world of cash management, with the last two or three years seeing a surge in the number of banks offering these services, according to experts. "The tide has definitely turned. Community...

Speeding up the automatic teller machine.(technology report)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... An Internet technology is helping to make automated teller machines faster and more powerful. Transfer control protocol/ Internet protocol, or TCP/IP, lets interested parties communicate through the Internet. In the case of ATMs, this...

Federal reserve announces Check 21 products, selects key imaging quality standards.(technology report)(Check 21 Act)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The final implementation guidelines for the Check 21 Act may not be out yet, but the Federal Reserve is getting ready now. In late May, the Fed released information and announced three upcoming products designed to ease the transition for...

Banks worth more than their weight in coins.(surveys & trends)(Mechanical Bank Collectors of America)
July 1, 2004... Catherine Allen, a second-generation banker, keeps a close eye on her late father's first bank. It's called "Jonah and the Whale," and it's locked up with dozens more banks in a tall, illuminated glass case in the waiting area outside her...

Consumers embracing the idea of paying bills online.(surveys & trends)
July 1, 2004... Bank customers are increasingly paying bills online at their financial institution's Web sites, where they can pay multiple bills at one place, according to a recent survey by MasterCard and Harris Interactive. The top reason cited by the...

Where the wealth is.(bank on it)
July 1, 2004... Who are those people living in gated communities, driving Bentleys, and, more importantly, investing large lumps of cash? They are America's richest citizens and more of them are popping up every day. Read on to find out who holds our country's...