All Blog Posts (1,106)

Private-Label Pop

How far can the private-label envelope be pushed?

That's the question I ask myself when thinking about the future of wholesale banking.

Bankers have historically walked a wholesale-banking tightrope. On the one hand, the nation's largest ba

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 19, 2010 at 8:30am — 5 Comments

Copy Machines Can Store Your Private Info

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Today, copy machines, fax machines and many printers are just like computers; they’re sma

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Added by Robert Siciliano on March 19, 2010 at 7:57am — No Comments

Mortgage Bankers Weekly Update

Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 3/17/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) decreased 1.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1.7 percent compared with the previous week. .

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Added by Howard Bell on March 18, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Freddie Mac Weekly Update: Rates Flat

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.96 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 18, 2010, up slightly from last week when it averaged 4.95 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.98 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.33 percent with an average 0.6 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 4.32 percent. A year ago at thi… Continue

Added by Howard Bell on March 18, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments

She Said WHAT? On Facebook?

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

I don’t know about you, but high school was a nightmare for me. I spent a lot of my time

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Added by Robert Siciliano on March 18, 2010 at 9:28am — No Comments

Bridal Scam Shows How Vulnerable We Are

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

There are few more nuttier earthlings than the Bridezillas. Lovely women who go bonkers w

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Added by Robert Siciliano on March 18, 2010 at 8:56am — No Comments

Owning Up to 'Rounding Errors'

Not long ago, I sat through a presentation by Citigroup's vice chairman and it reminded me of my time living in Asia in the mid 1990s.

Back then, I was a young journalist in Hong Kong, just out of graduate school and with a window seat on the greatest exhibition of capitalistic transformation my generation will ever see. The numbers coming out of China were (and still are) remarkable. If it wanted to, the Chinese could have seemingly facilitated a quarterly GDP above 100%. G

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 18, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

What Does the Stock Market Have to Say About Housing

Real Estate Investment Trusts
REITs are investment vehicles that trade like stocks or bonds.

Looking at the REITs and the various real estate sectors can help understand the underlying real estate trends we work with.

REITs have spent the past year raising money. All the sectors have been seriously damaged and th… Continue

Added by Howard Bell on March 17, 2010 at 6:00pm — 1 Comment

Breaking the Small Business Banking Catch 22

Even greater than James Cameron's crushed ego these days is the the populist call for more lending to small businesses. Heck, President Obama has had this call on auto replay for months now.

But when an objective look at the small business banking apparatus in the U.S

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 17, 2010 at 8:00am — 5 Comments

HSBC Hails a New York City Cab

Hop in a New York City taxi these days and HSBC Bank will most like be there with you. That's because HSBC has started an ad campaign in the taxi video network in New York City cabs, known as Taxi TV.

Here's what the ad looks like:

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 16, 2010 at 11:20pm — No Comments

Big Bankers "Pigs at a Trough" or merely misunderstood?

In a book I am compiling, Written Off - America and Americans, I am gathering experiences from people throughout the U.S. and the world regarding their experience of The Great Recession. The chapter this week is all about bankers - and I invite arguments from both sides.

www.WrittenOffAmerica.com/blog

TX, and feel free to connect with me. J

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Added by Jerry Ashton on March 16, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Fixing the Bank Brand Nightmare

Consumers have never exactly adored their bank. When a consumer conjures up a brand of emotion, banks don't exactly make the list, as does, say, an Apple or a Honda.

Let's face it, banks suck. Who actually wants to deal with a bank? If you had to choose between first

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 16, 2010 at 8:00am — 13 Comments

A Consumer-Centric Rallying Cry

There are problems and then there are “good” problems. One of those is what to do with the approaching windfall of bank earnings. Take a look at the KBW Bank Index and you'll know what I am talking about.

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 15, 2010 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

Social Media Security in a Corporate Setting

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The load isn’t getting any lighter for the IT manager. While corporations are still tryin

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Added by Robert Siciliano on March 15, 2010 at 7:14am — No Comments

Biggest Botnet Goes Bust

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

News of the

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Added by Robert Siciliano on March 12, 2010 at 4:19pm — No Comments

Cash management - think of the carrot, not the stick

As the FSA’s deadlines for liquidity compliance draw closer, the topic is constantly in the press and is receiving plenty of lip service. The FSA estimated that the combined cost to the industry will be £150-200m, which will likely echo the Olympics 2012 budget and fall far short of the true cost.

While most are up in arms about the upheaval the regulation will bring – huge data management issues, system silo issues, more stringent scenario and stress testing requirements – this is a mu… Continue

Added by Les Gosling on March 12, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

Key Bank Index Tops Credit Crisis Barrier

The KBW Bank Index topped 50 this week for the first time since the fall of 2008 -- and the index continues to nudge higher today. The index of banks is trading 0.08% higher at 11:07 a.m. ET today at 50.96. Arguably, this week was one of the best for stocks since before the credit cris… Continue

Added by JJ Hornblass on March 12, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Take an Ax to the Biggest Banks

Do you remember the feel? The my-bank-is-going-bankrupt pit in your stomach?

Time heals all wounds, they say, and that includes stomach “pits” that not a banker in the nation avoided during the credit crisis.

Of course, it is infinitely bet

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Added by JJ Hornblass on March 12, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Drops Slightly

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.95 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 11, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.97 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.03 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.32 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.33 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged… Continue

Added by Howard Bell on March 11, 2010 at 9:52pm — No Comments

Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 3/10/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) increased 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 1.2 percent compared with the previous week.

Refinance Index: decreased 1.5 percent the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5.7 percent from one week earlier.

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Added by Howard Bell on March 11, 2010 at 9:30pm — No Comments