Recent images highlight a dramatic contrast: Michael Corbat of Citi wears a suit and tie, representing hardcore banking—allegedly detested by tens of millions of consumers. Dan Schulman of American Express wears a collarless brown shirt to tout the new Bluebird card. That's "shadow banking," an alternative for what they call the "unhappily banked." People who'll open checking accounts at Walmart.
Of course, appearances aren't everything. There are more substantive differences. Unlike Corbat, Schulman doesn't deliver federal deposit insurance. He defends this, incredibly, as vindicating freedom of choice for Walmart customers!
Carry that a step further. To provide even lower "discount prices," should Walmart rent decaying buildings that don't satisfy local fire laws and building codes—and offer still better deals to consumers? And why should Walmart have to honor the national minimum wage law, any more than Amex honors state banking statutes? With Bluebird, Amex can already violate both the Bank Holding Company Act and many state banking statues.
Schulman says that for Bluebird, Amex has to "set the customers' money aside" somewhere. Like MF Global did?
Or, maybe Amex, unlike Citigroup or Bank of America, just can't run out of money. After all, it can print money (travelers checks).
Perhaps Amex is one of those nonbank SIFI's conjured up with the Dodd-Frank genie. If so, some council or other should restrain Amex from offering checking accounts (aka "Bluebird") — before they are too numerous to roll back.
Then we have the self-appointed "consumerists" who demand that Congress require federal deposit insurance for prepaid cards. Consider: checking accounts have never been required by federal law to carry this insurance. State-chartered credit unions that are not federally insured can and do offer checking accounts. "Prepaid cards" have converged at warp speed to become functionally indistinguishable from checking accounts, to the point where Amex plans to offer paper checks for Bluebird cardholders beginning early next year. It doesn't make a bit of sense to require the insurance just for prepaid cards.
Schulman irrelevantly asserts that Amex has state money-transmitter licenses. These in no way authorize it to offer checking accounts—or prepaid cards. State laws reserve for chartered institutions such as banks the power to offer demand deposit accounts – in the case of the New York Banking Law, Article 3, Section 131, limiting the power of "receiving deposits." (A spokeswoman for Amex says, "We are confident that we are complying with all state and federal laws and regulations.")
What's the difference between travelers checks and checking accounts, or the deposits that only chartered institutions may receive per state laws?
A demand deposit account, unlike the travelers checks that Amex has sold "for over 100 years," is not a negotiable instrument. Demand deposits don't have a fixed denomination. They are intangibles and are not sold. They enable the owner to order payment in any amount from his own funds, or to add to them by additional deposits. Unlike travelers checks, checking account checks are obligations of the consumer rather than the institution.
These fundamental differences have persisted for over 100 years, despite changes in regulation and technology. Nonbank money transmitters cannot legally provide banking services. If they're sensible, they don't try.
Confounding these two categories should result in subjecting travelers checks to banking regulation rather than allowing nonbanks to offer checking accounts. Or, just as we no longer have "banks of issue" that can print money and lend it or sell it at a discount, eliminate travelers checks—very little different, and way past their "sell by" date.
The wisdom of the group was "to punt" and ignore the future. The ABA had no policy on electronic banking. At the time another member and myself were then asked to write one which we did. The thrust was that completion was good, that classic banking had died with de-regulation a few years earlier, and retail electronic transactions really started with Bankamericard two decades earlier and that the banking industry was slow to react and it needed to act quickly.
Today, the industry is again faced with competition; and, the answer is to try to rebuild a moat to protect the non-competitive banks. I agree with Mr. Kahr that some type of consumer protection would be appropriate; but, if banks want non-banks to stay out of their business, then banks should give up using the pre-emption rules of the OCC to enter the realm of the non-banks such as is done by US Bank and Wells Fargo with payday lending to give an example. If Wells and US Bank can abuse customers, why can't non-banks do it with this product? And the regulators continue to allow that abuse even though they are swamped with comment letters on it. Who cares? Not the industry because they are silent or too uneducated to comment. Not the regulators! Perhaps Congress after the bank lobby goes to them if the election changes the administration. Good points for Mr. Kahr as he is wise enough to raise the issue.
Mr Kahr's comment, "A demand deposit account, unlike the travelers checks that Amex has sold "for over 100 years," is not a negotiable instrument. Demand deposits don't have a fixed denomination. They are intangibles and are not sold." ignores the fact that demand deposits accounts are most certainly sold by banks and a check written on a demand deposit is a negotiable instrument as is the Traveler Check when signed by the purchaser. What's his real point... promoting protectionism for the banking industry.
Judy C. is right on target about Walmart caring more about their customers. I meet with their most senior executive about twice a year and they are concerned about their customers having a better life. Unlike Wells Fargo whose lead director just issued a letter on October 26 to shareholders that "Payday Lending" is good! Their interest rates provide a ROE on that product of close to 1000%! You read that correctly. 1000% on the backs of their poorest customers!
Who has any sympathy for a bank like that? Throw US Bank, Regions, and Fifth-Third into that cabal too!
The non-banks do not have to be "sensible" because there is little sense in some of the major banks.