United Parcel Service, the company with the big brown trucks full of packages, recently opened a Chicago office for its commercial finance group, UPS Capital.
Formed in 1998, UPS Capital does not have the size or stature of some large companies’ finance arms, especially GE Capital.
But the UPS finance arm has been growing aggressively, and in August 2001 it acquired First International Bank of Hartford, Conn., a bank with 17 offices nationwide that specializes in government-guaranteed lending from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
The Chicago office technically will be part of First International Bank and will cater to small and midsize businesses. Many larger companies will be referred to the umbrella UPS Capital company.
UPS Capital is part of the overall UPS goal of providing “total solutions” to business clients, from financing to supply chain management to transportation.
The new Chicago office is headed by Stan Barnett, a former Bank One Corp. executive who lives in Wilmette. He will generate business leads, and UPS Capital expects him to staff the office with five to six additional employees over the next couple of years.
UPS Capital does not disclose revenue or asset figures.
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Osborn pay: William Osborn, chairman and chief executive of Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp., received $2.59 million in cash compensation in 2001, a 10 percent decline from $2.90 million in 2000, according to Northern’s proxy statement filed last week.
His salary rose to $937,500 from $887,500, but his bonus fell 17 percent, to $1.5 million. Osborn also received a restricted stock award worth $1.5 million, down from $1.8 million a year earlier.
And he received 150,000 options worth an estimated $16.3 million over 10 years at 10 percent appreciation. That’s down from 2000, when he received 170,000 options worth an estimated $19 million.
Irritations: Someone has finally recognized the importance of working pens in making bank customers happy.
Chicago-based NewGround Resources Inc., a design and branding firm for financial institutions, checked 50 branches of large banks in New York and San Francisco to see if their ball-points were rolling, and found that 103, or 31 percent, of 332 pens tested did not work.
“First pen encounters”–typically those nearest the branch entrance–caused the most problems. In fact, 22 percent of the total 103 dead pens were “first pen encounters.”
“Little things drive customers crazy,” said Charlene Stern, head of strategy, branding and retail design at NewGround. “This is the most basic definition of customer service.”
“All the direct mail and splashy bank ads in the world cannot repair the damage caused by a broken pen,” Stern added.
Maybe now someone will document rude customer service “associates”–and tellers who can’t count.
Bank Notes: PrivateBancorp Inc. has hired Robert Griffiths as managing director and head of the Wilmette and Winnetka offices of the PrivateBank & Trust Co. Griffiths had been president and chief executive of Uptown National Bank of Chicago.
– Thomas Ascher, former vice chairman of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, last week was named chief executive of Nasdaq Liffe Markets, which this spring will introduce single-stock futures in the United States.