More Top Picks Pitching Machines
player ready...Unlike many banks trying to gain a toehold in the crowded Chicago market, newcomer Countrywide Bank won’t be advertising special deals on checking accounts.
The Calabasas, Calif.-based bank hopes to lure new customers by offering higher rates than the competition on savings accounts and certificates of deposit.
“That’s where we’re confident we can compete with those other banks,” said Timothy Wennes, the bank’s executive vice president of retail banking.
The bank is coming into Chicago at a time when competition has intensified. National City, Washington Mutual and Bank of America are among the large banks that have aggressively expanded, while long-time local banks such as Harris and Bank One have opened new branches.
Wennes said Countrywide is convinced there is a niche in the market that it can fill.
“Our proposition is we can offer low rates by leveraging low costs,” he said, adding that the bank generally offers rates 0.5 to 1 percent above others in the market.
The strategy anticipates many customers will choose to leave their checking account at their current bank and bring some of their business to the newcomer. Wennes said he hopes to attract “seniors and others seeking to maximize the interest they earn on certificates of deposit.”
The bank recently opened offices in Glenview, Libertyville, Naperville and Orland Park. The name is already known in the area through the presence of Countrywide Home Loans. Plans call for sharing space with the mortgage operation in some instances.
CBOE plan OKd: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s new electronic trading platform, Hybrid 2.0. The new system will debut Wednesday. The CBOE has already named seven firms to be electronic-designated primary market makers. Those firms participate regularly in the market to create liquidity.
It was the second piece of good news for the options exchange this week. On Monday, the CBOE Futures Exchange reported handling 1,844 VIX futures contracts, breaking the record of 1,594 set May 24. The new futures exchange launched in March and began trading VIX futures May 18. VIX contracts are tied to the volatility in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
New $50 bill coming: Redesigned $50 notes will debut in September, the Treasury Department has announced.
Like the new $20 that was introduced last year, the new bill is more colorful–subtle shades of red, blue and yellow–and contains design elements intended to deter counterfeiters. It still features the images of Ulysses S. Grant and the Capitol.
J.P. Morgan pen unveiled: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s recently completed acquisition is expected to cost about 10,000 jobs once the dust finally settles. Many of those positions will include managers forced out of their jobs.
It’s a sure bet that they are not the intended customers for the Montblanc’s Limited Edition J.P. Morgan fountain pen. Unveiled on Thursday, the pen comes in two versions: silver ($1,850) and gold ($5,500).
The pen is the perfect “welcome gift for new executives,” according to a Montblanc spokeswoman.
And the perfect accessory for any executive’s desk–assuming he or she still has one at the bank.