1st (and Only) National Bank of America

by Ron Daly

While everyone was concentrating on GAC and the speakers the last couple of weeks, something VERY troublesome was bubbling up in the banking sector. The groundwork for a brand new bank - the “1st National Bank of America” was being put in place. I know you’re thinking walking around in the cold here at the GAC junket has killed a few brain cells. Maybe I’m a pessimist? Or worry too much? But think about how the banking and credit union industries would be changed if this starts at the top of a very slippery slope and then rolls downhill through the system. 

Here’s your assignments... take a read of these articles and play “what-if?”

1) The Associated Press article “Gov’t looks to quell nationalization fears”

2) The Economist article “Banks under Stress” asks "Is it Time to Nationalise Citigroup and Bank of America?"

I think you can make big $$$ with TARP Cliff notes!

by Ron Daly

I’m serious, it is getting so hard to keep track of all the initiatives, who is asking for what, who is mad at whom, what the trades are saying and what all the big CUs are saying about TARP, SIP, CLF and all the other acronym programs. I heard one CEO tell a consultant a few weeks ago that they would gladly pay for a weekly executive summary of everything going on with this issue. Not a bad idea for someone else to run with! 

Of all the articles out there, I think that Steven Syre’s article in the Boston Globe “Paying a giant’s price” is worth reading for some perspectives at credit unions in the northeast. The starting teaser line...   

Did Anyone Check to See if Washington DC is a Junket?

by Ron Daly
 
Damn, the Governmental Affairs Conference is only a few days away. I’m not sure if anyone checked to see if a conference in Washington, D.C. is considered a junket? I live here, it’s February, there was snow and sleet today, so I’d vote “Heck no” but I don’t think my vote counts for much.

Anybody got the direct phone line for 20/20? Think I’m kidding? If you haven’t heard, our ex-friends over at ABC are running an expose on excessive credit union spending on their show 20/20 on Friday the 20th. Jeffry Pilcher at the Financial Brand can tell you more (link to his story). My take? Please think twice before spending any credit union marketing money on any ABC radio or television affiliate until they tell the real credit union story.

So the GAC, as it is affectionately known in these parts, is going to be a bit different this year. Here are a few new rules for attendees:

Oh no you didn't...

by Ron Daly 

We are gathered here to day to mourn the death of JuicyCampus.com...wait, did I say mourn? I meant celebrate. 

Now, being in the long-time internet guy that I am, I usually don't enjoy the demise of a website. I know there are plenty of people out there just trying to make an honest go of the web. But the folks behind Juicy Campus don't inspire sympathy in me. For those of you who don't know (or don't have college-aged kids), Juicy Campus was set up to let college students spread rumors about the school, campus organizations, or each other. The rumors could be benign things like "the price of parking is increasing soon" or malicious notes about people's relationships, appearances, or any other area of someone's life. 

It took me two seconds to decide that this site and its mission was despicable. And it took me less time than that to be happy when I heard it was gone (click here for details on its closing). 

I don't know "social networking" as well as some of my credit union contemporaries, but I do know this: a social network can't survive when it's built on hate-mongering. Juicy Campus lost out because it couldn't drum up online advertising here in the downswing. It has since been usurped by collegeACB, which stands for "Anonymous Confession Board", which doesn't encourage gossip so much as anonymous comments from anyone at any time. 

Yeah, there's a BIG difference between that and Juicy Campus (sarcasm alert!). 

But let's take a moment to talk about the people who are doing a GREAT job of social networking in the credit union world. And HOW are they doing a great job? They're not spitting on people and being catty. 

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...and NONE of them privately owned!!!

by Ron Daly 

It's been a couple months now, so I presume you've gotten used to my tirades. One of my first and most popular was my anger with the Big Three automakers flying to their Congressional testimonies in private jets (click here for a blast from the past).

I guess the CEOs of the 8 largest banks in the country are avid readers! [Editor's Note: They're not...not that we know of ] They all took public transportation to their meeting with the Congress this week (read about it here). Luckily, Citigroup cancelled their order for a $50 million jet...otherwise, they'd be on my short list (read about that little gem here). 

So now they're all here in DC, sweating through their suits and trying to account for their cut of the bailout pie. My guess? We don't know what they did with their money...come to think of it, I'll bet they don't either...but we do know how MUCH they got. 

Between a Rock & A Hard Place – AKA An Evening with Dan Mica

by Ron Daly 

Last night, DigitalMailer was the sponsor of the monthly meeting of the Metropolitan Area Credit Union Management Association (MACUMA). We got lucky, it seemed, because we were sponsoring a talk that everyone's been chomping at the bit to hear. Dan Mica, President and CEO of CUNA, was talking to the group about TARP, CU-SIP, CLF and the state of credit unions in general and there are some interesting things for the industry to watch for in the coming press. 

Now, here's the deal. I made Jimmy (my Creative Media Director and faithful henchman) take notes on the talk and toss out the bullet point topics without agreeing or disagreeing with any of the sentiments expressed. Some of Mica's talking points: 

• The Trade Associates are finding themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place on this issue with some CUs saying they’ll leave the trades if they touch TARP money and others saying they’ll leave if they don’t. 
• CUNA has been lobbying hard to get TARP recognition from the Congress and from the Obama administration. Among the roadblocks getting in their way? Several vacancies beneath President Obama's economic/finance advisor, making one-to-one time with the advisor or the president very difficult to get. 

One Life to Live? Make it Two.

by Ron Daly

I was sort of stunned when I first read about SecondLife, the online program designed to let people be who they want to be in a 3D fantasy world. From what I'm told, you can fly about, dress in crazy clothes, date, get married, get a job, earn money...and some stuff that's just not fit to mention here. Click here to see the official website. 

But the oddest concept is the "LindenDollar", money that is used in SecondLife that actually takes real money. There are conversion rates between dollars and Lindens and you can use real money to increase your balance of fake money. Use your LindenDollars or "Lindens" to buy houses, land, ad space, food, clothing...and again, stuff I won't bring up. Jimmy [Marks, my blog manager] says some of that stuff might violate our "Don't Make Us Wash Your Mouth Out" rules (click here). It's that kind of thing. 

But back to Lindens (named after Linden Labs, which develops SecondLife, not after Hal Linden from Barney Miller). Someone's got to teach youngsters how to manage those Lindens if they want to succeed. Enter Filene's i3 project and Scott Moriarty, who came up with a special learning space on "Credit Union Island" in the SecondLife world that's aimed at helping younger SecondLifers learn smart money management. Click here to read the CU Journal article on the topic. 

UPDATE: Today's the day to be "two people"

by Ron Daly 

Most of the online CU world knows now that there are two can't miss webinars to attend today. First up, it's CUNA with "NCUA’s Corporate Stabilization Program: Challenges & Questions" (click here to read more). Then, it's NAFCU's "NCUA's Corporate Stabilization Plan - What it Means For Your Credit Union" (click here to read more). One starts at 2:00 and the other starts at...2:00. 

Uh oh. 

Well, if you can't manage to be in two places at once or hold two phones to your ear, they're going to be saving the audio for later listening. There are also slides to view, so be sure to download whatever files you can. I think I'll listen to one and have Jimmy, our Creative Media Director, listen to the other. We'll compare notes and see what we can tell you about the whole shebang tomorrow. I have the feeling these are important webinars, so PLEASE keep yourselves informed. 

Have anything to say about the conflicting time slots or the whole NCUA bailout topic? The comment section is open, as always.

The Heartland Hack is Still a Problem...a HUGE Problem.

by Ron Daly 

When I was a hard working CFO at a large CU a few years back, the card operations department reported to me. 

I've been down the road of having to block and reissue a compromised merchant database a time or two. There's never a "best case scenario" of a compromised database. The best case scenario is it doesn't happen. But I've had small breaks (80 member accounts affected) and fairly big breaks (400 member accounts affected). There's the estimated ~$15 you spend reissuing cards and closing accounts. And then there's the ~$10 you spend on credit monitoring on the accounts. That's ~$25 per account, so at worst it's about $10,000 that I've had to account for after a breach. And that's why, recently, there's a thought that's been troubling me.