Project Green: America's First "Green" De Novo
Ken LaRoe says his long hair makes him look like a "bunny hugger" but he hopes his launch of First Green Bank will increase sustainable development in Florida, and be a role model for his banking peers.
July 2008
Cover Story
Waiting for the Call
Cellphone banking is emerging as an important link that could bring the basic financial services to the globe’s billions of unbanked cellphone users. Bringing the unbanked into the formal economy is a key initiative of various players—payments processors, financial-services firms, telecommunications firms—but it, like the developing countries most affected, is a work in progress.
Front & Center
To Split or Not to Split: That is the Top Question
More and more shareholders and analysts are beginning to think that holding the dual title of chairman and CEO either creates inherent conflicts of interest, is poor corporate governance or spreads an executive too thin.
Word Is...
No Sex, But Lies and Videotape in International Spy Thriller
Is all fair in love, war—and, ah, business? Just ask American Express Bank. In a case reminiscent of a Robert Ludlum thriller, AEB is suing Credit Suisse, claiming the Swiss bank sent an employee, posing as compliance officer, to AEB’s Santiago office to swipe trade secrets, nab more than 80 clients and capture nearly $127 million in client assets—a whopping 25 percent of its Chilean business, according to court documents.
The Economy
A ‘Radical’ Answer to Credit-Ratings Conflict
The conflicts of interest in the credit ratings business is a dilemma 75 years in the making. There is, however, a surprisingly simple solution.
Inside Track
Repairing Libor’s Credibility Crisis
The interbank rate set by the British Bankers’ Association is being threatened. Can this venerable benchmark, on which markets have depended for 22 years, be saved?
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Fast Forward
Core banking: Suddenly, SAP
For a company whose clients include 21 of the world’s 30 largest banks, SAP doesn’t get much respect in North American banking circles. But the German firm may be near a breakthrough, thanks to the ambitious plans of a Canadian institution to change its core banking platform for $100 million.
Fast Forward
Phishing: PayPal Tosses Line To Snarl the Biz Model
Tactics by PayPal have greatly reduced the amount of phishmail targeteding eBay and PayPal users. The company has issued a frank paper outlining its success.
Main Street
CheckSpring Community Bank Checks (Out) the Bronx
With a vast number of unbanked immigrants, the South Bronx may seem an unlikely place to open a new bank, especially in a shaky economy. Limited competition may spell profit.
Marketing
FNBO Taps Savers’ Inner ‘Spielberg’
First National Bank of Omaha has a 150-year history, but it’s diving into the 21st century with a vengeance, launching a Web-based savings “challenge” to build its direct bank
Ad Beat
Discover’s Loyalty Play: Online Paydown Planning
Discover wants to be consumers’ best friend with a campaign highlighting its Paydown Planner. Another new tool details how long it will take to pay for that spiffy plasma TV.
Consumer Finance
As Some Flee Mortgage Mess, Others Seizing the Day
Eventually, the mortgage marketplace will rebound. And when it does, institutions such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and ING plan to be ready to catch the upside.
Small Business
Small-Company Failures May Cause Big Migraines
As the economy worsens, small businesses are failing at a quickening pace. Banks are worried, because the failure of small-business loans are certain to follow.
Wealth management
A Baby Boomer Stampede May Prove Just a Trot
Wealth-management advisors might have to prepare themselves for fewer Baby Boomers—and fewer assets—than has been so often been projected. Competition will be fierce.
Corporate & Institutional
Low-Cost Financing In a High-Risk World
A growing number of Fortune 1000 companies and their suppliers are turning to Orbian’s and PrimeRevenue’s supply-chain-finance platforms to access cheaper financing than is possible through conventional banking relationships.
Op-Ed
Avoiding a Marketing Meltdown
As traditional marketing campaigns falter in a soft market, leading players are embracing targeted initiatives based on priority locales, customers and products.
Video
How Green is Your House?
In this Project Green segment, Vernon Turner, svp at IDC Research, offers some metrics banks can use to measure their environmental impact.
