BankThink

The future of institutionalized, imprudent mortgage lending to people who could not otherwise afford the loans was foretold in 1999.

The average checking account costs banks about $350 annually, American Banker reported this month. But whether banks should use that estimate in determining individual customer profitability remains up for debate.

Does an ATM-locator app need to have sex appeal? At first, the design of the new PNC Finder app for the iPhone seems like it might be overkill. But its main feature — an augmented-reality display — is winning over customers.

Banks use phone calls to alert customers of potential fraud — so the fraudsters have responded by tying up their victims' phone lines.

The state Attorneys General need to get a deal done soon, or they — and by extension American homeowners and those who have lost their homes — lose.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Less than a Lincoln: Bank of America’s share price fell below $5, as part of a broader selloff in financial stocks sparked by a warning from the European Central Bank about dangers for the Eurozone economy. The Charlotte, N.C., megabank’s shares closed at $4.99, the lowest level since March 2009. Mortgage-related litigation risk remains a dark cloud over the company, and $5 was a “bad psychological barrier” to break, an analyst tells the FT. Another analyst is paraphrased as saying that “some funds could become forced sellers of BofA shares due to pressure from clients and fund consultants, leading to further declines.” In a Bloomberg story picked up by the Washington Post, a money manager explains that the threshold is more than psychological: “We have screens that usually prohibit us from buying stocks under $5. If we own it, we would not kick it out automatically, but generally we tend to avoid stocks like that.” The trading-focused blog iBankCoin suggests those holding the stock may have an incentive to buy: “There have been reports that the $5 level in Bank of America’s stock must be defended by institutions in order for them to continue to hold the stock, else face forced selling.” And a finance professor quoted in the Bloomberg/Post story appears to damn Bank of America with faint praise. After saying the “real danger” for a public company is falling below $1 a share, which typically means delisting, he adds that in such cases “it is usually some fundamental problem with the business model and it may go to zero, but I think Bank of America is very different from your typical small failing company.” Quips the blog DealBreaker: “That’s Your Big Pump Up Speech?” Financial Times, iBankCoin, Washington Post/Bloomberg, DealBreaker

Yet another video game company has been targeted by hackers. Square Enix, the company behind the popular Final Fantasy games, said Monday that it would restore its "Square Enix Members" website by yearend. The company took the site offline after discovering that a server had been hacked.

The FDIC's job in this instance is simply to recover as much taxpayer money as possible from a bank failure, not to right the scales of justice, a D&O insurance lawyer says.

The Bailey Building and Loan Association was one of the worst run banks in America. It would have topped the FDIC's problem bank list, if such a list had existed in 1946. In fact it almost certainly would have failed every financial test of today's regulators. The institution was poorly capitalized, its assets were concentrated in a single asset class, and it was a subprime mortgage lender. Of course, it was also a figment of Frank Capra's imagination.

Perhaps 2011 will go down as the year social media finally proved it might live up to some of the hype. So in keeping with that, I thought the best way to memorialize 2011 would be to go back and look at some of the best Twitter posts (tweets) and share them here.