Financial Mines

News and notes from the business reporters for the Connecticut Media Group.

Archive for the ‘Banking’ Category

PUFI installs hi-tech ATMS smart cards to follow?

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People’s United Financial Inc has installed some of the highest tech ATMs in the nation in its Manhattan branch.

NCR, the guys who make the ATMS and self-checkout kiosks in supermarkets and for airlines, announced the installation of the first smart card machines in the U.S. for People’s.

“They should get a lot of credit for being ahead of the curve,” said an NCR spokesman.

The major card payment companies, including Visa and MasterCard, have issued new specifications to improve consumer security and banks are expected to go to a chip and pin card in America that’s widely used in Europe and Canada.

Chip and pin cards have microchips embedded in them and are considered more secure. Had cards in the U.S. been of this type, according to NCR, it would have made it more difficult for an international ring of thieves to steal $45 million recently.

Many European countries have been on this system since 1996.

People’s had not yet posted a press release announcing the move or when it would be providing customers with the cards or plans to convert the rest of its ATM system.

It should be noted, the ATMs will accept our regular, less-secure cards.

People’s shares are trading near a 52-week high at $14.23 on Wednesday. The bank’s shares hit their highest value in a year this month.

Mortgage rates, chickens and eggs

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The Mortgage Bankers Association reported this week that applications for home loans fell 7.3 percent last week on weaker refi and PropertyRoundsLogonew purchase activity. At the same time, banks upped the interest rate for conforming loans to 3.67 percent, a rise of just 0.41 percent from the previous week.

Is there a correlation between the rise in rates and the drop in applications? We’re not sure. Sort of a chicken and egg, thing.

But we did check to see how much the rise in rates could have cost some home buyers and there are implications for further increases.

If a person buying a home a $300,000 home in Danbury put down 20 percent and financed at the 3.59 percent rate of two weeks ago, they’d have a monthly payment of about $1,089.80. That doesn’t include taxes, insurance, etc.

Buying that same house a week later at the 3.67 percent rate would increase the monthly payment $11 to $1,100 per month, according to Bankrate.com’s mortgage calculator.

Not a tremendous burden, really, it’s three or four cups of coffee at Starbucks a month.

If the rate, however, were to go up a full percent, to 4.59 percent, a person buying our Danbury home would have to pay $1,228.91, a month.

Here in the Mighty Financial Mines, as one reader recently dubbed us, we wondered what would happen to the market if interest rates went up.

Those eggs are cooked

Those eggs are cooked

There are several scenarios, of course. Probably the best has the Fed raising rates when the economy starts growing at a stronger pace, thawing out the great wage ice age. In that case, people could probably afford to pay more as hiring increases and employers provide raises and the real estate market could continue to improve.

But, if rates go up in a weaker economy, there is a chance the market could slow down with some people get priced out of it. And in a worse case scenario, prices could actually fall, as sellers have to cave to the reality of what buyers can actually finance.

Unless, of course, the bankers do something like, loosen up their underwriting standards…

But for now, a jump in rates doesn’t look likely, though it is, as Ed Deak, the don of Connecticut Econ, posited in our future.

“They can’t stay at zero forever,” he said in a recent interview.

Jumbo loans also went up according to the MBA, rising to 3.87 percent. Refinance activity was down 8 percent and purchases were off 4 percent.

Check out the MBA for more info.

 

NY AG says Wells and Bank of America need to be sued

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New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Monday he intends to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for violating the $25 billion national mortgage settlement with the states.

As part of the 2012 deal, which Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen helped craft, the nation’s five largest banks agreed to provide mortgage relief to homeowners and abide by new servicing guidelines, which included timely response to modification requests and to keep track of paperwork.

Wells Fargo maintains it is compliance while Bank of America told the Washington Post it will work to correct any problems.

Schneiderman, in a press release, said his office has received a host of complaints from consumers and the professionals who are helping consumers navigate the mortgage modification process. New York is reporting there were 339 violations by Bank of America and Wells in the Empire State since October of last year.

“The five mortgage servicers that signed the National Mortgage Settlement are legally required to take specific, rigorous, and enforceable steps to protect homeowners,” Schneiderman said in a press release. “Wells Fargo and Bank of America have flagrantly violated those obligations, putting hundreds of homeowners across New York at greater risk of foreclosure. I intend to use every tool available to my office to hold these companies accountable under the terms of the National Mortgage Settlement.”

According to the independent monitor hired to make sure the banks comply, Connecticut was the only state where more professionals, like attorneys and housing counselors, complained about the banks’ process than New York. The monitor tracked complaints between April of 2012 and January of 2013.

However, in Connecticut, direct consumer complaints about the process were among the lowest.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said he is reviewing New York’s complaint.

In an email sent via his spokeswoman, Jepsen said, “As a member of the Monitoring Committee of the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), I take any alleged violation of the NMS very seriously.  The NMS provides the monitoring committee and each state with the ability to enforce provisions of the settlement, including filing suit, if necessary.  Today I received a copy of New York’s letter identifying potential problems with some banks compliance with the NMS.  I was aware of many of the issues raised by New York.  I am reviewing the information provided by New York’s and will work with the other members of the monitoring committee to ensure full compliance with the NMS.”

The AG’s office maintains that the reports it’s getting from mortgage pros and consumers are that the banks have been more responsive since the settlement, though staff are still hearing complaints about lost documents and a lack of timely communications.

Connecticut’s AG pledges to work with the banks to correct the issues.

Under the agreement, the monitoring committee has 21 days to review New York’s complaints at which time it might decide to move as a group to sue or do nothing and allow New York to go it alone.

UBS to move jobs to …(Drum roll)

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Some might call it luck, but Gov. Malloy's UBS deal looks divine.

Some might call it luck, but Gov. Malloy’s UBS deal looks divine.

Hey, things broke right for the Guv this time as Bloomberg reported this weekend, that UBS is going to move jobs out of New York City and into Stamford. Maybe.

We checked with UBS and the company seemed perplexed that Stamford was mentioned as a destination for employment growth. Bloomberg also cites a real estate pro who says UBS will move some work to the Avenue of the Americas.

Later, UBS said  it will honor its agreement with the state but would not comment on any movement of employees. Here’s what we found out officially. Mining some of our sources around town, it sounds like some jobs are coming back to Stamford, but not a flood of them.

Still if the initial report is right, things look good for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Remember Gov. Malloy, fresh off his win in the election, confronted some bad news in his first year in office when UBS was allegedly going to move out of Stamford. He slipped the Swiss banking giant a sweet $20 million loan to keep about 2,000 employees in the City that Works through 2017.

Word was that some execs’  spouses didn’t like their significant others telling people they didn’t work in NYC. But Bloomberg is saying that the bank wants to trim some real estate costs.

Anyway, stay tuned for more.

And yes, for those devout Miniacs, we are back this week after a break. Sorry for the interruption of your news.

 

People’s earnings slip 8 percent in first quarter

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PBCTBridgeport-based People’s United Financial said lower interest rates and a drop in bank fees lowered profits in the first quarter compared to a year ago, despite increased lending activity.

People’s reported net income was down 8 percent to $52.5 million, or 16 cents per share, from $57.3 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago.  Shares in People’s were off 10 cents to $12.70 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.

“In the first quarter of 2013, we continued to grow our franchise and upgrade our capabilities while efficiently deploying capital,” Jack Barnes, president and CEO, said in a press release. “In what is typically a seasonally slower quarter for loan growth, we saw the benefits of our expanded footprint and strengthened product line-up, which resulted in annualized linked quarter loan growth of 8 percent.”
The Board of Directors of People’s United Financial voted to increase the common stock dividend to an annual rate of 65 cents per share. Based on the closing stock price on April 17, 2013, the dividend yield on People’s United Financial common stock is 5.1 percent. The quarterly dividend of 16.25 cents per share is payable May 15, 2013 to shareholders of record on May 1, 2013.
During the first quarter of 2013 the Company repurchased 11.1 million shares of People’s United Financial common stock at a total cost of $144 million. Under the existing share repurchase authorization, 22.3 million shares of common stock remain available for repurchase.

The bank’s low share price looks like a buying opportunity for it as executives confirmed they would continue to pursue share repurchases using the large amount of cash on People’s balance sheet and given the low interest rate environment.

People’s also said it would continue to work to control costs.

Chase brings tech-aided banking format to New Haven

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Chase unveils its newest branch in New Haven

Chase unveils its newest branch in New Haven

Chase isn’t just relying on teller windows it’s putting tech in the hands of their customers and bankers, who wander the floor in their newest branches like sales associates working retail.

Some have even said Chase has co-opted the Apple Store model for its latest, tech-infused, branches, the first of which opened in Connecticut in New Haven on 149 Amity Road. Those of us in the Mines who are a little older immediately hoped that the new kiosks use HAL like voices when you use them and ask, “What are you doing?”*

“We’ve spent the last few months meeting folks in the community and preparing for the Amity Road location, so we’re thrilled to be officially opening our doors,” said Matthew Cummings, Chase Woodbridge Branch Manager. “Our new build branch format is all about choice – offering customers face-to-face assistance from bankers, or electronic and paperless options to conduct transactions.”

Besides bankers with tablets, the new branch features self-service kiosks providing ATM-like services with check cashing, custom denomination withdrawals, credit card bill pay, prepaid cards and money orders. The kiosks are reminiscent of airline kiosks you see at airports. If Chase’s kiosks don’t require every customer to flag down a banker for assistance, the bank will be doing better than the airlines.

The new branch is the 52nd Chase branch in the state. Eight employees were hired for it and they will staff the branch from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday with additional hours on Saturday.

*Reference is to 2001 A Space Odyssey.
An earlier version of this post mistakenly said Chase was going teller-less. That’s not the case the bank still has tellers and teller windows. The Mines regrets the error.

New buyers push mortgage applications to three year high

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PropertyRoundsLogoBuyers drove the Mortgage Bankers Associations‘ weekly index of purchase activity to its highest level in nearly three years.

The MBA’s national report said total activity was up 4.8 percent last week, the highest level since January. There was a 5 percent increase in purchasing activity, raising the total amount of loan applications for new purchases to its highest level since May of 2010.

Refinancing activity was also up, and still dominates the market holding a 75 percent share.

Rates inched down for both conforming 30-year-fixed and jumbo loans. The rate for a 30-year mortgage was 3.67 percent, down from 3.68 percent. The rate on a jumbo loan was 3.77 percent, down from 3.79 percent and is now just 0.1 percent higher than loans for more modest homes.

Adjustable rate mortgages continued to represent 5 percent of the total market.

Fairfield County foreclosure activity jumps 52 percent in March

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RealtyTrac, the California-based foreclosure marketplace, is tracking a 52 percent jump in foreclosure activity in Fairfield County and a 48 percent jump in New Haven County compared to last month.

The company reported Thursday total foreclosure activity in the nation fell 23 percent in March compared to a the same month in 2012 and down 1 percent from February of this year. Fairfield County was up 40 percent compared to a year ago.

Sherman, in the Northwest is actually leading the region in foreclosure rates, according to the company. The increase in activity might threaten gains in housing prices made in the last few months. Foreclosure sales prices were up 4 percent in February, according to RealtyTrac.

New Haven County likewise saw a surge in activity, climbing 48 percent in March compared to the previous month and was up 20 percent from a year ago. Oxford saw the highest rate of activity in the month, according to RealtyTrac.

We’ve had some trouble with this graphic, but we’re trying again.

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