"Losing the envelope; New ATMs promise consumer convenience - and savings for banks" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | June 28, 2009
A growing number of ATMs are missing a traditional accessory: envelopes.
Instead of stuffing deposits into envelopes to be retrieved later, customers at most new automatic teller machines insert checks and cash directly into the machines to be automatically scanned, with the money usually credited to their accounts the same day. Most of the new machines can also print a receipt with a copy of the checks, making some customers more confident their deposits won’t be lost.
“It’s more secure,’’ said Hugo Salazar, 52, a janitor from Everett, making a deposit at Bank of America’s bank of new ATMs across from the Boston Common.
With all the identity thefts, etc, going around?
You'll pardon me if I take a grain of salt.
Love them or hate them, the new ATMs are here to stay, as banks across the country are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the check-scanning machines....
The reason: The new models could potentially save the banks big money....
Unless the ATM has trouble reading a check, there’s no need for a bank employee to physically process each deposit....
Like any new technology, there also have been glitches....
Amy Leydon, a yoga instructor from Boston, said she doesn’t even bother anymore, preferring to go during banking hours and have a teller inside a branch handle transactions for her. Moreover, the machines sometimes jam or misread checks or cash....
Unfortunately, it's a one-way street with the dwindling reserves: withdrawals.
Because of unfamiliarity with the machines, Bank of America has taken to assigning employees - nicknamed “ambassadors’’ - to help teach customers how to use the new machines....
Not for much longer; how long until the "ambassador" is an "expense?"
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And NO AMOUNT of PR PROPAGANDA is going to HELP YOU LYING LOOTERS!
NEW YORK - Wall Street’s largest trade group has started a campaign to counter the “populist’’ backlash against bankers, enlisting two people who were aides to Henry M. Paulson Jr. when he was Treasury secretary to spearhead the effort.
In memos about confidential meetings with top financial executives, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said that this month it began the “execution phase’’ of the operation, which pledges to embrace change and accountability. The plan targets policy makers and the news media in New York, London, Washington, and Brussels and calls for a “city-by-city, grass roots’’ approach.
The securities industry “must be perceived as part of the solution, which will allow it to better defend against populist overreaction,’’ said the documents, prepared for a June 17 meeting of the association’s board.
The meeting minutes and staff-written papers, obtained by Bloomberg News, outline the program crafted by polling, lobbying, and public relations companies paid at least $85,000 a month. The memos provide a glimpse, in often candid language, into how Wall Street is grappling with its pariah status.
Paid for by GUESS WHO, taxpayers?
That's right: Bailout Loot Used For Lobbying
“It is imperative that in this historic period of reform, the industry be recognized as playing a positive role in seeking change and providing solutions to the problems we face,’’ one document said. “There is currently widespread skepticism about the industry’s commitment to this needed change.’’
The internal papers call for using regional securities firms, many of which have escaped notoriety in the financial crisis, to push the industry’s message with their local members of Congress. The plan notes brokers across the country can also be used.
“The foot power of the private client group has proven to be effective in blunting populist messages in the past,’’ said board member Paul Purcell, chief executive of the investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co., according to minutes of a meeting.
To advise on the strategy, the trade group turned to a bipartisan roster of consultants. Such advice does not come cheap, and the association is discussing dipping into its reserves to cover some of the costs, according to one memo.
Michele Davis, Paulson’s former spokeswoman, and Jim Wilkinson, his former chief of staff, are among those leading the effort. Their firm, Brunswick Group LLC, is being paid a monthly retainer of $70,000, the documents show.
Davis and Wilkinson declined to comment. Assisting them is a Democratic polling firm, Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies, for $5,000 a month. It is run by Cornell Belcher, who worked on President Obama’s campaign. BKSH & Associates Worldwide, a firm chaired by Republican strategist Charlie Black, signed on for $10,000.
How about ALL THAT POLITICAL INCEST, huh?
Why I call American politics s*** fooleys now, and explains why MSM takes up so much print with them.
In response to questions about the push for an image makeover, the association’s president, Timothy Ryan, said it has taken a lead in advocating for a federal systemic risk regulator and has pushed for increased government power to wind down financial firms that do not own banks. He also touted the group’s recently issued recommendations on executive compensation.
But I STILL SMELL SOMETHING that STINKS -- and it is coming from this shiny, pefrume-soaked turd with a ribbon around it!! WTF?
“This effort, which is not uncommon for a trade association, is designed to ensure our ideas for improved accountability, oversight, and transparency are heard by the widest possible audience,’’ Ryan said. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association represents about 600 securities firms, brokerages, and asset-management companies. It counts among its members the biggest US banks.
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Nice that YOU COULD PAY to REPAIR THEIR USURIOUS IMAGE, 'eh, Amurkn?
Wanna repair your image? QUIT KICKING PEOPLE OUT of their homes and lining your pockets with bailout loot!
But that's not the PLAN, is it?
But THIS will IMPROVE their image (all about ILLUSION in AmeriKa, isn't it?)!
How are you going to feel when you show up at YOUR BANK and see a CLOSED SIGN, American?
GET YOUR MONEY OUT NOW!!!!
"Regulators shutter 5 more banks, bringing total to 45" by Stephen Bernard and Marcy Gordon, Associated Press | June 28, 2009
NEW YORK - Regulators on Friday shut down five small banks, boosting to 45 the number of failures this year of federally insured banks. More are expected to succumb in the prolonged recession....
The 45 banks closed nationwide this year compare with 25 in all of 2008 and three in 2007.
As the economy has soured, bank failures have cascaded and sapped billions out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level since 1993, $13 billion as of the first quarter.
While the pounding from losses on home mortgages may be nearing an end, delinquencies on commercial real estate loans remain a hot spot of potential trouble, FDIC officials say. If the recession deepens, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Many regional banks hold large numbers of them....
--more--"I don't understand; we are being told the economy is getting better better on a daily basis.
WTF? My agenda-pushing NEWSPAPER wouldn't LIE to ME, would it?
