Fidelity Web Offerings Honored
NEW YORK-Corporate Insight bestowed 19 Monitor Awards to Fidelity for its Web offerings in the financial services industry. The firm was singled out as 2008's big winner for providing its "customers with timely news and commentary resources, as well as transparency and communication regarding how the firm was fairing" and lauded its user-friendly website.
Bank of America was named the Bank Monitor Award winner while Chase and HSBC brought home awards in the credit card category. Corporate Insight evaluated more than 70 firms in over a dozen categories, including online help resources, transactional capabilities, account applications and client messaging.
For info: www.corporateinsight.com
Park Ave. Withdraws TARP App
NEW YORK-The Park Avenue Bank withdrew its is application for TARP funding citing financial stability in its decision.
CEO Charles Antonucci is also committing to investing an additional $15 million in the bank after already pumping $6.5 million into the institution in 2008. The board said other investors are committing new capital to strengthen Park Avenue Bank's financial position.
"We are taking the necessary steps to strengthen our capital structure and are working closely with the regulators to assure stability, service and liquidity," Antonucci said. "As a result, we do not deem it necessary to request TARP funds and have withdrawn our application."
For more info: www.parkavenuebank.com
Where Consumers Turn For Advice
NEW YORK-A recently released report details what websites and institutions Americans turn to when considering their options in creating a retirement account online.
The Consumer Experience of Retirement and Investing Web Sites, compiled by Change Sciences Group, ranked Charles Schwab first out of 15 institutions; T. Rowe Price and Wells Fargo ranked No. 2 and three respectively. The report stated that Americans are looking to the Internet as a replacement for the traditional advisor's office, but many websites come up short of consumers' expectations. 13% of sites fail to provide a clear overview of basic retirement account types, 20% of them do not to provide a tool to help prospects determine if users' savings are on track and 40% of do not allow users to apply for an account online, the report stated. To read the entire report: www.ChangeSciences.com/Reports/Retirement-Site-Online-Sales-Benchmarks.
Alliance Expands Cards Program
DALLAS-At a time when most credit card issuers are pulling back, Alliance Data Systems Corp. is trying to navigate the recession by expanding its private-label portfolio.
The fifth-largest issuer of store cards for retailers, says it can pick up large numbers of highly creditworthy cardholders in this environment, notwithstanding the strains on consumer finances, according to a report by American Banker, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal.
"We play in a certain sandbox, and that sandbox has about 300 retailers, and they tend to be a little bit on the higher end," Edward Heffernan, Alliance Data's chief executive, said.
Because it has a relatively small portfolio ($4.3 billion of managed receivables), and "because we only play in one part of the pool, we're not faced with the issue of stopping because we've exhausted that pool," he said. "We can expand for a long, long time."
