Community Banks

This Guy Is Probably The Nicest Banker In America

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Small Businesses, Local Businesses, Video, Wall Street, Community Banks, New York State, Patrick Cullen, Cattaraugus, Local Banks, Big Banks, Small Banks, Credit Unions, Money News

If you were going to sit down and design the opposite of a Wall Street banker, you would probably come up with someone like Patrick Cullen. Cullen ...

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FDIC Ends April 2012 Closing Five More Banks

Dennis Santiago | Posted 04.28.2012

Read More: Dennis Santiago, Fdic, Institutional Risk Analytics, Community Banks, Bank Crisis, Bank Closures, Fdic Bank Closures, Money News
Dennis Santiago

Like a wave of tornadoes touching down, the FDIC struck across the country on Friday shuttering five banks from coast to coast.

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Small-Business Lending Summit Features Obama Administration's Top Appointees, Elected Politicians and Industry Leaders

Jerry Chautin | Posted 04.19.2012

Read More: Washington, Small Business Loans, Obama Administration, Credit Crunch, Barack Obama, Karen Mills, Community Banks, Small Business Owners, Ifa, Sba, Financial Institutions, Politicians, Small Business Franchising, Small Business News
Jerry Chautin

At the recent Small Business Lending Summit, franchising was cited as a popular path to entrepreneurship. But the difficulty that small-business owners face for financing is a challenge.

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Don't Abolish SBA; Mills Says Her Agency Is Faster, Quicker, Better

Jerry Chautin | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Conventional Loans, Financing, Acquisition Loans, Alternative Financing, Small Business Loans, Congress, Small Banks, Barack Obama, Karen Mills, SBA 7a, Working Capital Loans, Community Banks, Small Business Owners, Borrowing Money, Business News, Lending Programs, Franchise Loans, Sba, SBA 504, Business News
Jerry Chautin

Some legislative ideologues and conservative groups would rather abolish the SBA than spend taxpayers' money to boost its small business loan-guarantee programs.

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Matt Sledge

Lobbyist Brags About Helping Rep. Win Primary Challenge: 'It Helps To Have Friends'

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 03.22.2012

Read More: Video, Jack Abramoff, Spencer Bachus Insider Trading, Community Banks, Small-Lending, Richard Gose, Campaign for Primary Accountability, Spencer Bachus, Suzanne Bonamici, Spencer Bachus Alabama, Credit Unions, Politics News

Earlier this month Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman of the powerful House committee that oversees the financial services industry, was facing a ...

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Zach Carter

'We'll Fight This To The Death': The Vicious Capitol Hill Battle Between Banks and Credit Unions

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 03.22.2012

Read More: Corruption, Congress, Small Business, Icba, Community Banks, Lobbying, Economy, Bank Transfer Day, Barney Frank, Move Your Money, Jobs, Cuna, Small Banks, Politics, Video, Tbtf, Wall Street, Banks, Spencer Bachus, Credit Unions, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- In early February, Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus called for a meeting between two of the most quietly influential interest groups in...

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Giving Up Your Bank for Lent

Michael Winship | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Citigroup, Stress Tests, Community Banks, Move Your Money, Wells Fargo, Bank Stress Tests, Bank of America, Mortgage Crisis, Federal Reserve, Bank Transfer Day, Occupy Wall Street, Dodd-Frank, Business, Mortgages, Banking, Banks, Credit Unions, Money News
Michael Winship

On Ash Wednesday, churches in San Francisco announced they were removing $10 million from Wells Fargo and called on the bank "to put an immediate freeze on its foreclosures and repent for their misconduct." The effort is part of several national campaigns to get consumers and community groups to remove their money from the big banks and transfer accounts to credit unions and smaller financial institutions. We're told that the banks, desperate when thrown a lifeline by taxpayers in 2008, are now stronger and better able to weather a crisis than they were. And yet, they continue to scream in protest and lobby on Capitol Hill against the ignominy of reform. Simple greed -- hey banks, how about giving that up for Lent?

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Zach Carter

Swipe Fee Fallout Has Small Banks Relishing Rare Advantage Over Wall Street

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 03.02.2012

Read More: Durbin, Dodd-Frank, Community Banks, Icba, Wall Street Reform, Repeal, Federal Reserve, Debit Card, Video, Wall Street, Fed, Banks, Swipe Fees, Swiped, Debit Cards, Tester, Politics News

Last year's wild legislative melee over debit card swipe fees featured a curious contradiction: Although big Wall Street banks stood to lose the most ...

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Banking 2012: Maneuvering to Survive the Desert Landscape of Zero Interest Rates

Dennis Santiago | Posted 04.07.2012

Read More: Dennis Santiago, Credit Rating Agencies, Economic Recovery, Tbtf, Institutional Risk Analytics, Community Banks, Zirp, Bank Lending, Zero Interest, Lending Freeze, Fed Lending, Business News
Dennis Santiago

Simply put, with zero interest rates pushing operating margins down to nothing, the only thing starving bankers have left to do to survive the drought is cannibalize the industry.

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The State of Small Business: Credit and Jobs Must be Addressed

John Arensmeyer | Posted 03.31.2012

Read More: Small Business Loans, Small Business America, Credit Cards, Small Business, Credit, Community Banks, Lending, Small Business Credit, Banks, Small Business Lending, Small Business News
John Arensmeyer

For too long, small businesses have been struggling to bear the brunt of the recession. Lending has all but dried up, and too many lawmakers are spending more time playing politics than working to pass smart legislation to help them. How do we know small business owners feel this way? We asked them.

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MI Dems Push Jobs Jolt

The Huffington Post | David Sands | Posted 11.14.2011

Read More: Video, Small Business, Community Banks, Loans, Jobs, Michigan Democrats, Stimulus, Small Business Lending, Credit Unions, Veterans, Detroit News

Lansing Democrats are rallying behind legislation in the House of Representatives designed to spark growth for small businesses and hire out-of-work M...

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SBA is Making Lines of Credit More Available --- Maybe

Jerry Chautin | Posted 01.11.2012

Read More: Conventional Loans, Large Banks, Holiday Shopping, Financing, Loc, Line of Credit, Invoice Purchasing, Loan Application, Credit Crunch, SBA Loans, Cash Flow, Accounts Receivable, Small Banks, Community Banks, Small Business Owners, Working Capital Loans, Small Business Loans, Borrowing Money, Lending Programs, Business News, Inventory Loans, Credit, Factoring, Financial Institutions, Caplines, Small Business America, Small Business News
Jerry Chautin

To provide the much-needed liquidity, the U. S. Small Business Administration is revising its CAPLine program to make lines of credit more acceptable to lenders and more available to small-business owners. However, banks would rather make conventional LOCs rather than hassle with some of the SBA's requirements.

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Stunning Number: Big Banks Set to Lose 70,000 Accounts on Move Your Money Day

Van Jones | Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: Move Your Money, Community Banks, Big Banks, Credit Unions, New Bottom Line, Move Your Money Day, Business News
Van Jones

Today, tens of thousands of people all over the country will leave the big banks and move their money to community banks and credit unions, where people remember things like customer service and loyalty.

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To Increase Small Business Loans, Revive What Has Already Worked

Steve Grossman | Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: Small Business Loans, Small Business Banking, Small Business Jobs, Small Business, Community Banks, Sba, Massachusetts, Small Business Lending, Economic Recovery, Small Business Administration, Small Business Banks, Treasury, Banks, Small Business Lending Fund, Small Business America, Small Business News
Steve Grossman

The Small Business Administration's loan incentive program worked brilliantly, and it will work again. Washington should act -- and act now -- to provide another $2 billion to help small businesses, their workers and the taxpayers.

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Zach Carter

MoveOn Joins Move Your Money Project For Nov. 5 Day Of Action

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 01.03.2012

Read More: Foreclosures, Moveon, Wall Street, Community Banks, Occupy Wall Street, New Bottom Line, Move Your Money, Banks, Jobs, Credit Unions, Video, Politics News

With the Occupy movement continuing to gather momentum, political organizers at the progressive nonprofit MoveOn are joining a campaign from other pro...

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Community Bank To Pay Customers To Open Accounts In Response To BofA's Fees

Posted 10.14.2011

Read More: Video, Community Banks, Business News, Community Bank Pays Customers, Banking News, Big Banks, Regional Banks, Debit Card Fees, Bank of America Debit Card Fees, Checking Account Fees, Business News

While many banking giants are starting to charge fees for debit card use and other once-free services on checking accounts, one regional bank is doing...

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Bank of America's Outrageous Debit Fee -- Another Reason to Break Up the Big Wall Street Banks

Robert Creamer | Posted 12.10.2011

Read More: Wall Street Banks, Jan Schakowsky, Break Up Wall Street Banks, Dick Durbin, Occupy Wall Street, Monopoly, Debit Card Fee, Oligopoly, Community Banks, Bank of America, Move Your Money, Bank of America Debit Card Fees, Politics News
Robert Creamer

Let's make Bank of America remember the old adage: "The pigs get fat and the hogs get slaughtered." Let's use their own greed to stoke the "Occupy Wall Street" sentiment that is -- quite correctly -- sweeping the country.

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It's Really Time to Move Your Money!

Michael McGown | Posted 11.13.2011

Read More: Business News, Interest Rates, Credit Unions, Community Banks, Move Your Money, Megabanks, Small Banks, Checking Account Interest Rates, High Interest Checking Accounts, Business News
Michael McGown

While there are a number of sources for locating good, small, customer-friendly banks and credit unions, I've found two that are quite helpful.

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Trymaine Lee

Black-Owned Banks Struggle To Stay Out Of The Red

HuffingtonPost.com | Trymaine Lee | Posted 10.22.2011

Read More: Tarp, Warren Ballentine, Community Banks, Finance, Michael Grant, Black-Owned-Banks, Banks, Black Business, Maxine Waters, National-Banker-Association, National Banker's Association, Black Unemployment, Black Voices News

After more than a century of delivering financial resources to underserved communities, black-owned banks are struggling to remain relevant -- and sol...

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Some Real Estate Agents Are In Cahoots With Fraudsters

Jerry Chautin | Posted 08.31.2011

Read More: Investors, Bank of America, Large Banks, Scam, Community Banks, Real Estate, Avoid Foreclosure, Defaulting Homeowners, Fraud, Foreclosure, Wells Fargo, Business News, Flipping, Short Sale, Real Estate Agents, Flopping, Business News
Jerry Chautin

With declining prices, scammers are using short sales to make a fast buck by purchasing properties at below-market prices and immediately flopping them to new buyers.

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Against Their Own Interests

Mike Lux | Posted 08.03.2011

Read More: Interchange Fees, Swipe Fees, Wall Street, Durbin Amendment, Credit Unions, Swipe Fee Regulation, Swipe Fee Battle, Community Banks, Business News
Mike Lux

It's unfortunate that some community bankers have gotten caught up on the wrong side of this battle, but the bottom line couldn't be clearer. Swipe fee regulation is a straightforward fight between Main Street and Wall Street.

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Zach Carter

Bair Cries Foul At Bernanke Over Swipe Fees

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 07.12.2011

Read More: Walmart, Durbin, Wall Street, Lobbying, Community Banks, Financial Reform, Bernanke, Wall Street Reform, Target, Swipe Fees, Interchange, Home Depot, Tester, Small Banks, Bair, Video, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve chairman and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairwoman insisted Thursday that regulating the fees banks can c...

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Bernanke: Dodd-Frank Should 'Level Playing Field' For Small Banks

Reuters | Dave Clark | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Community Banks, Watson, Federal Reserve Bank, Small Banks, Richard Fisher, Ben Bernanke, Thomas Hoenig, Jeopardy, Wall Street, Ibm, Big Banks, Financial Regulations, Dodd-Frank Bill, Business News

SAN DIEGO - New financial regulatory reforms should help reduce the edge that large banks have over smaller ones because of their implicit support f...

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Why Republicans Hate Warren's CFPB But Love Another Bank Regulator

Stacy Mitchell | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Elizabeth Warren, Occ, Dodd-Frank, Community Banks, Financial Reform, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Cfpb, Move Your Money, Banks, Financial Crisis, Spencer Bachus, Consumer Protection, Big Banks, Business News
Stacy Mitchell

What's really at issue in the fight over the CFPB is not how the agency is structured or how much power it will have, but whose interests it serves.

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Zach Carter

Senators Back Delay In Crackdown On Fees That Yield Billions For Banks

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Price-Fixing, Community Banks, Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Business, Mortgage-Companies, Merchant Payments Coalition, Eric Cantor, Politics, Visa, Bank Lobby, Bob Corker, Spencer Bachus, Tester-Corker Bill, Subprime Loans, Michael Hunter, Financial Regulation, American Bankers Association, Dick Durbin, Credit Cards, Shelly Moore Capito, Bank Lobbyists, Mastercard, Wall Street, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Swipe Fees, Jon Tester, Debit Cards, US News, House Financial Services Committee, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, a group of nine senators led by Montana Democrat Jon Tester put their names behind legislation to delay the Federal Reserve'...

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