With a 1.5% increase in short-term interest rates in a three month period, the mortgage refinancing party is effectively over. Yet, total household debt (including mortgage loans) increased by $266 billion in the first quarter 2022. Balances, now at $15.84…
All New Credit Union Data Now Available
The Federal Reserve boosted short-term interest rates by three-quarters of a percent on Wednesday. That completes the removal of the 1.5% easing of credit (March 2020) intended to “stimulate” the economy during the Covid-19 shutdown. The target Fed Funds rate…
Can Consumer Loans Withstand Rate Rises?
We had hoped to have credit union data and star-ratings available this week, but the NCUA made so many changes to the reporting this quarter, the data didn’t come out until Tuesday (June 7th). So while our analysts comb over…
Quietly Slipping Under the Radar
Many routines were disrupted the last couple of years (to say the least). But as we begin to pull our lives back to some semblance of normal, it is a little surprising to see that some things (seemingly) never skipped…
Newly Released Bank Star-Ratings and Data
The percent of recommended banks (rated 5-Stars or 4-Stars) remained virtually unchanged between Q4’2021 and Q1’2022. However, banks earning Bauer’s top rating (5-Stars) are at their lowest level since 2018. Problematic banks (rated 2-Stars or below) while still low (1.05%…
Some CUs Bank on Bank Deals, Most Don’t
On May 12th, 5-Star DFCU Financial, a $6.456 billion credit union headquartered in Dearborn, MI, announced it will enter the Florida market with the purchase of 4-Star First Citrus Bank, Tampa. First Citrus Bank has $660 million in assets and…
An Audacious Goal: Uniform & Consistent Testing
When looking at modernizing/improving the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), regulators must look back on the past to see how we got here. This look backward, while disconcerting, is not difficult. Redlining was real. It was an accepted (and…
In the Words of Nancy Reagan, “Just Say No.”
Since the turn of the century, nearly 7,000 U.S. banks have disappeared from the ranks. As the quantity goes down, the assets of those that remain go up. As a result, we now have four U.S. banks that exceed the…
Lower Bank Fee Promisers (or Deliverers)
We promised you last week that we would delve more deeply into bank service fee income. In particular, we want to make sure the banks that are making promises to lower their fees, actually do so. To that end, we…
My It’s Chilly, Must be the (Over) Draft
Regulators, consumer activist groups and even some State Attorneys General have raised concerns about certain banks charging excessive fees. Overdraft fees are receiving the most scrutiny at present but maintenance fees have been called-out as well. Since 2010, Bauer has…