BankThink

Russian Bank Uses Free Cats (Yes, Cats) to Attempt Image Makeover

09/05/14

Russia's Sberbank is offering a "cat housewarming delivery service" to new mortgage borrowers in an effort to ditch its staid reputation, writes Austin Kilgore of National Mortgage News .

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Morning Scan: MetLife Faces SIFI Tag; Apple to Boost Security

09/05/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... MetLife and the Dreaded S-Word: Much to MetLifeÂ's dismay, the Financial Stability Oversight Council voted Thursday to propose that the firm be designated as a systemically important financial institution. The life insurerÂ's chief executive Steven A. Kandarian indicated that MetLife may contest being lumped into the group that includes nonbanks American International Group, Prudential Financial and General Electric Capital. The company is "not ruling out any of the available remedies under Dodd-FrankÂ...

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Looking for New Mortgage Leads? Try Naturalized Citizens

09/04/14

Foreign-born nationals with U.S. citizenship have a lot of positive attributes that make them attractive mortgage applicants. What's even better is that millions are still renters.

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Morning Scan: Takeaways Vary on Liquidity Rules; More Prosecutors Head Out the Door

09/04/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Parsing the New Liquidity Rule: The newspapers had very different takes on a new liquidity rule requiring large banks to hold enough safe assets to survive at least 30 days in the event of a crisis. The Wall Street Journal says regulators "provided some relief to large U.S. banks" by allowing those with assets between $50 billion and $250 billion to calculate compliance with the rule on a monthly rather than daily...

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Homespun Marketing Can Be a Branch's Secret Weapon

09/03/14

Allowing branch workers to come up with handmade signs and offbeat contests can help banks increase both customer and employee engagement, according to consultant Dave Martin.

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Reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank Is Just Common Sense

09/03/14

Ex-Im is one of the rare government agencies that's running smoothly, according to Tod Burwell: it returns a profit to taxpayers and makes American businesses more competitive. So why are some legislators gunning for its closure?

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Morning Scan: Regulators to Vote on Liquidity Rules; Fee Revenue Takes a Dive

09/03/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Home Depot Probes Breach: Home Depot may be the latest retailer to have customer credit and debit card information fall prey to a data breach. The home-improvement store is keeping pretty mum about the details of its investigation into so-called "unusual activity." But security expert and blogger Brian Krebs, who broke the story, reported that "the breach may have extended across all of Home Depot's U.S. stores and could date back to...

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Communication Can Win Back Wary Customers

09/02/14

While customers were losing faith in banks, they were falling in love with tech. Banks will have to start changing their message if they're going to catch up, according to consultant Chiaki Nishino.

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Businesses Should Pay Straightforward Taxes — Credit Unions Included

09/02/14

The historic basis for credit union tax exemptions has become outdated, according to Frank Keating of the American Bankers Association.

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Morning Scan: Barclays Bids Spain Adios; NY AG to File Buffalo Redlining Suit

09/02/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Barclays Tells Spain Adios: Barclays plans to sell its Spanish retail bank, wealth and investment management and corporate banking divisions to Caixabank for $1 billion. The move is part of Barclays' larger effort to scale back in unprofitable markets; the Wall Street Journal reports it will lose $830 million in the sale. "Heard on the Street" suggests since the "sale price valued the Spanish business at about half of book value ...

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