Bank Talk Blog

government,politics news,politics news,politicsThe National Council of La Raza has released a new study which offers some interesting insights into the use of prepaid debit cards by low-income Latinos. La Raza conducted a survey of 279 Latino tax filers at VITA sites in five cities in April 2010. Top reason to get a prepaid card: “It seemed convenient.” [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsReinvestment Partners will speak at today’s annual meeting of JP Morgan Chase in Tampa, Florida. The main points to be made by Peter Skillern: Chase should step up their work to complete loan modifications. Other national banks have shown more interest in seeking constant improvement in their engagement with housing counselors. We implore Chase to [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsJP Morgan Chase’s annual report makes a persuasive argument for the profitability of bank branches. “Branches are good investments,” says Todd Maclin, CEO for Consumer & Business Banking. “Most break even within three years and contribute $1 million in pretax earnings after 10 years.” Maclin offers a number of data points to support his opinion: [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsIncreasingly, when I talk about prepaid cards with consumer advocates, they ask a similar question: “What is a good prepaid card?” The consumer advocates are right to ask this question. I think it is the same question that most folks ask themselves when they go shopping for their own prepaid card. But it is easier [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsOn April 27th, the FDIC shuttered Palm Desert National Bank and arranged through a mix of government subsidy and private investment that the bank’s operations would be assumed by Pacific Premier Bank.  This presented perhaps the closest call to date for an event that might test the ability of the FDIC to deliver on its [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsPost-Durbin, many issuers of prepaid debit cards have introduced higher fees upon their cardholders when they make a purchase with their PIN, but new data from the Federal Reserve shows that two-tiered pricing schedules are out-of-synch with the empirical results. On May 1st, the Fed published a report on its examination of actual interchange prices [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsJP Morgan Chase says that it will offer a new prepaid debit card. Chase says that the Liquid card will be piloted in 200 branches. I will be waiting and watching to see how much business this card will take from the entrenched national players like NetSpend and Green Dot. Certainly, it is an attractive [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsGiven the right conditions, banks can offer transactions accounts to otherwise unbankable individuals, according to a study released by the FDIC last week during the semi-annual meeting of the Economic Inclusion summit. Over the last year, nine banks and thrifts offered transaction accounts modeled by the FDIC’s SAFE Accounts pilot with the goal of offering [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsYesterday Best Buy announced that it will cease to have rent-to-own kiosks in its stores. The big box electronics retailer had been running a pilot experiment with kiosks run through a partnership with Rent-A-Center in thirteen of its locations. It is an interesting decision for a retailer that has been struggling to remain competitive in [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsThis is the story a young professional whose misfortune was to begin law school in 2005.  When I entered law school in 2005, the industry was paying record-high rates for lawyers, and employment is not a real concern – it was assumed that full employment was virtually guaranteed, and certainly at a level that would [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsThere are only a few instances when the period when a perpetrator of a crime can be charged and convicted never expires: If you kill someone: A charge of murder can be made at any time. Fraud and embezzlement: You will be looking over your shoulder forever. War Crimes: If you commit a series of [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsThis is an excerpt from the story of one student currently working to pay off her student loans. Although she went to school in the 90s, she is still paying her loans. She has been making payments for fourteen years. This is an anonymous story but there are probably many other people out there facing [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsI recently had a chance to survey the debt loads of approximately 40 recent graduates from two universities in North Carolina. All of the students earned an undergraduate degree. Generally, they came from low-wealth families. The data covered all of their debt – not just student loans but also credit card debt, medical debt, car [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsAs of 2010, how many credit card accounts were open in the United States? What was the average credit card debt per household (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2010)? a) 110 million / $4,100 in debt per household. b) 610 million / $15,800 in debt per household. a) 240 million / $15,800 in debt per [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsThe New York Times has a great article in today’s A section that discusses the EITC. It is a fair story. The author managed to see the program without rose-colored glasses. She gives the EITC credit for alleviating poverty, but she acknowledges that it is mainly a patch to help low-income filers get through hard [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsFirst question: How does the ICE Card stack up against the competition for other prepaid cards? Better question: How does the ICE Card inform how we ought to think about prepaid card disclosures? The ICE Card (“so cool it’s hot”) is issued by MB Financial Bank (ticker:MBTI) and licensed as a money transmitting agency in [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsShipments of manufactured homes continue to show new strength. In January 2012, HUD code manufacturers reported 3,983 shipments. Compared to the year before, this is an increase of 42.5 percent. It is just a blip on the radar. These numbers follow on a lengthy period of momentum. In the last three months, sales are up. [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsPrepaid cards are now the biggest trend in banking. In 2006, consumers put $30 billion on these cards. In 2011, they put more than $300 billion on to prepaid cards. Its about the rise in people living on the margins, the expansion of the companies offering them, and the general push by banks to curtail [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsWhy does the new Control Card make it impossible for a person without an account to read the cardholder agreement? The Control Card’s agreement is locked behind a page that requires a log-in. This is just the kind of problem that should never happen. The people at NetSpend, MetaBank, and BET have made a good [...]

government,politics news,politics news,politicsAdvance America takes next step with sale to Grupo Elektra, SA: Advance America reported that the 45-day “go-shop” period, a regulatory procedure whereby a company offers to hear alternative purchase proposals, had passed without the reception of other bids. Bank of America may be selling invalid debts to collectors: American Banker reports that Bank of [...]