The Federal Reserve will almost certainly raise short-term interest rates when it meets on March 15/16. It will also publish its summary of economic projections which will shed light on whether its leanings are towards another increase in May. At…
Author: BauerFinancial (page 7)
4 Big Banks Account for 37% of 2021 Branch Closures
The U.S. lost over 2,900 bank branches in 2021. While that represents less than 3.5% of the total, it is a new record. The previous record was set in 2020 as COVID began nudging consumers toward mobile banking. Clearly, that…
What Constitutes an Unconscionable Interest Rate?
After last week’s article on banks with high service fee income, we wanted to take a look at how some other banks make their money. Particularly after mentioning that Capital One is a credit card bank, we wanted to see…
3 Banks Charge 45% of All Consumer Service Fees
Bauer has been warning readers for years about the downfalls of opting-in to “courtesy” overdraft protection. And with good reason. In 2021, estimated overdraft fees charged by U.S. banks for this “courtesy” exceeded $8 billion. You’ve probably been noticing lately…
Mortgage Loans Remain Bright Spot, Mostly
Loan balances at our nation’s banks grew $62.7 billion (0.6%) during the third quarter 2021. The majority of that growth ($41.3 billion) was in the form of residential (1-4 family) mortgages. However, mortgage loans are down almost a full percent…
Cooperation is Not a Four-Letter Word
When Jelena McWilliams was sworn in as the 21st Chairman of the FDIC (June 5, 2018 JRN 35:23), five federal agencies (the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC Board the OCC, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and…
Will There be a Merger Miracle in 2022?
If you can’t remember the last time federal regulators denied a bank merger application, you’re not alone. It has been years. In fact, when we began writing Jumbo Rate News in 1983, there were almost 15,000 banks in the U.S.;…
’Tis the Season for Scammers
It is the Holiday Season and for most of us that means spending time with family and friends. But for others, it means finding new ways to take advantage of unsuspecting victims. Since the beginning of the pandemic, “alleged” cyber-fraud…
My True Love Spent How Much on Christmas?
For nearly 4 decades, 4-Star PNC Bank, N.A., Wilmington, DE (formerly Provident National Bank) has provided us with a whimsical inflation reminder. It calculates how much it would cost to purchase all of the items from the “Twelve Days of…
Look to the Stars to Guide You into 2022
Coral Gables, Florida, December 13, 2021 Coral Gables, FL: BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation’s premier Bank and Credit Union rating firm, reminds you to look to the stars—Bauer’s star-ratings that is, to make sure your deposits are in strong banks and/or…