Remember how Bank of America said that they were going to charge their customers $5/month for using their debit cards? And everyone hated the huge company even more? Well, now other banks are deciding to learn from BoA's mistake and deciding against charging customers debit card usage fees. more ›

Ben Stein is a lawyer, a former Nixon speechwriter, a sarcastic Obama appreciator and, yes, Ferris Bueller attendance taker. But that's no match for a woman who felt his jokes at a Dallas private equity conference were sexist—and therefore demanded that Citigroup ditch Stein as keynote speaker for the banking giant's conference. And guess what—Citigroup agreed, "We have decided to present the conference without Mr. Stein’s participation." Yeah, probably doesn't help to have possibly sexist jokes dropped while Citigroup is dealing with a gender discrimination lawsuit. more ›

The foreclosure robosigning mess has stalled foreclosure auctions and sales, leaving many homes in limbo. The Post reports, "Lawyers in New York must make sure that real people sign documents and thoroughly check homeowners’ financial situations before they try to take away people’s homes," making the Empire State the first state to do so. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said, “We cannot allow courts in New York to stand by idly and be party to what we now know is a deeply flawed process, especially when that process involves basic needs - such as a family home - during this period of economic crisis." more ›

The Save Coney Island folk have just released a new rendering, showing the Bank of Coney Island as what they call a Bowery Ballroom-style event and music space. Should their vision become reality, this joint would be named The Banker's Ballroom—however, Thor Equities has secured a permit to demolish the ol' gal, so this idea may never make it off paper. The 1920s-era bank hasn't been in operation since the early '90s, and there has been plenty of deterioration inside since that time—check out photos at ScoutingNY. more ›

A homeless man tried to hold up the Chase bank at the corner of West 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue yesterday—and the Post says he was "brandishing an old television remote control, demanding money and claiming he had a bomb." Which freaked the bank's employees out enough for them to head to the building's roof. more ›

This week's Village Voice cover story is about a 33-year-old single mom who says she was fired from Citigroup because the guys in the office couldn't handle her hot bod. To accompany the article, the online version features a whopping twenty photos illustrating just makes Debbie Lorenzana such a distracting co-worker. (She doesn't even work in our office and we're having a hard time getting anything done today.) After careful deliberation, we've whittled the photos down to the top seven shots, for reference purposes only and so not as part of some shameless attempt to drive up page views like the Voice. more ›

Ahead of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein's visit to the Congress next week, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released emails (PDF) that suggest the firm was making money while the mortgage markets collapsed, which would then contradict the firm's claims it lost money during that period. A November 2007 email from Blankfein said, "Of course we didn’t dodge the mortgage mess. We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts." more ›

Now that the NYC recession is almost over (your attitude determines your altitude!!!), the Treasury Dept. has announced plans to begin selling its 7.7 billion shares in Citigroup over the course of the next year. This marks a very positive turn for Citigroup, whose stock prices have been steadily increasing during the first three months of 2010. more ›

Add this to your blogrolls! The FBI has developed a new website featuring surveillance photos of bank robbers. Dubbed "Bandit Tracker," the website features a database of images, crime narratives, and maps that authorities hope will generate valuable tips from visitors, according to the Post. Similar websites are up and running in Chicago, St. Louis and Texas, among other places, and in some cases, the technology used to establish the sites allows investigators to post images of the suspects within an hour after a robbery occurs. more ›

Crooks cut holes in the roof of a Brooklyn bank and actually got into the room containing safe-deposit boxes on Sunday, but they fled without taking anything. After chiseling one hole in the wrong spot on the roof, the thieves hacked another hole and got into the bank's heating vents at around 5 p.m., according to the Daily News. They then crawled into a room containing the safe-deposit boxes, but took no money or valuables. Even though the perps didn't steal the jewelry or the "significant amount of cash" that 31-year-old Gravesend resident Sara Cohen keeps in the bank, she's not taking any chances. "I'm going to change my bank first thing tomorrow morning." more ›

Add another name to the list of unexpected candidates considering running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Mayor Bloomberg's longtime girlfriend Diana Taylor has reportedly been meeting with Republicans to discuss a possible campaign. The race has already seen a short-lived Democratic campaign by former Congressman and pundit Harold Ford Jr. and an already-canceled Republican run by Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman—not to mention a still pending Republican campaign by former Bush adviser Dan Senor, husband of CNN anchor Campbell Brown. So what's the deal with the city's unofficial First Lady? more ›

Fed up with name-calling and increased restrictions from the Obama administration, bankers are shifting financial support to Democratic opponents in the Republican party. Bank officials say Wall Street is sending a message: “The expectation in Washington is that ‘We can kick you around, and you are still going to give us money,’ ” one top official at a major Wall Street firm tells the Times. “We are not going to play that game anymore.” more ›

This story would be a lot cooler if our protagonist actually attempted to look anything at all like Paul Simon, and had Chevy Chase lip-syncing next to him. As it is, the NY Post reports a man over 6-feet-tall tried to steal the (5'3") singer's identity and withdraw money from his bank account. 54-year-old Rafael Ramos attempted to take out $4,300 from a Citibank on Broadway and West 86th Street using Simon's name, account and Social Security number, but the teller was suspicious since, you know, he looked nothing like one of the most famous musicians of our time. Ramos tried to escape the scene of his foiled caper but cops busted him. He was charged with attempted larceny and taken to the hospital after telling the officers he was depressed. more ›

According to a new tally, the Bronx has less banks than any other borough except Staten Island—it has only 154 bank branches compared with 701 in Manhattan, 428 in Queens and 343 in Brooklyn. In some parts of the borough—including the Van Nest neighborhood which hasn't had a bank in over ten years—you can walk for a mile without coming across one, reported the NY Times. “I don’t think you can have a thriving business community without a bank in the area,” said state senator Jeffrey D. Klein. “They really need a bank to serve as the anchor for the community.” more ›

Goldman Sachs announced record earnings today: According to the NY Times, "The bank said that for 2009, it earned a profit of $13.4 billion on revenue of $45.2 billion," and 4th quarter earnings of $8.20/share, beating estimates of $5.20/share. But the bigger news may be the fact that the bank started to slash its bonus pool. more ›

Today JPMorgan Chase is reporting that last year it doubled its profits over 2008, earning $11.7 billion, and generated record revenue, hauling in $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter alone. It's also reporting that it's earmarking $26.9 billion to compensate its workers, much of which will now be paid out as bonuses. You're welcome, America! The news comes as a Wall Street Journal analysis found that major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their top employees a record sum, about $145 billion for 2009, nearly 18% more than they did in 2008—and slightly more than in the record year of 2007. But mean old President Obama wants to take that hard schemed earned money away, and that makes Bloomberg scared! more ›

Citigroup has announced that it will return $20 billion that the U.S. government gave it in TARP bailout money last year. According to Bloomberg News, the banking giant "will raise the funds with a sale of $20.5 billion of equity and debt" and "also plans to substitute 'substantial common stock' for cash compensation." Notably, the move from under the government's thumb will also allow the firm to avoid executive pay restrictions. more ›

Senior bankers at Goldman Sachs are arming themselves with handguns to fend off any forthcoming populist uprising against the bank. A friend of one of the bankers tells a Bloomberg News columnist, "I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit," swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker. This unidentified banker says he's not the only one stocking up on guns, and the NYPD confirms that some of the Goldman Sachs bankers do have pistol permits. Well, this ought to fix their public image problem! more ›

Bank of America, which had posted a $3.2 billion profit last quarter, announced a $2.2 billion loss—$1 billion due to consumer defaults (CNN Money: "more and more Americans found themselves out of work and unable to keep up with their loan obligations") and paying the government and another $1.2 billion due to shareholder dividends. Departing CEO Ken Lewis said, "Obviously, credit costs remain high, and that is our major financial challenge going forward." more ›

Former rookie NYC transit officer Christian Torres has pleaded guilty to twice robbing a Sovereign branch on the Lower East Side in 2007. The robberies netted $116,000 and were almost completely successful, thanks in part to his 20-year-old girlfriend Christina Dasrath, who worked as a teller at the bank. (She still claims Torres tricked her into helping him, and describes him as her first love.) Torres, 23, only got busted for those jobs when cops pulled him over after robbing $113,000 from a Sovereign branch in Pennsylvania last April. Dasrath is currently serving a two and a half year sentence, and Torres is doing a ten year bid in the Keystone State. While pleading guilty yesterday, Torres blamed the crime spree on the low salaries allotted rookie cops. more ›

Just because a bank makes a mistake doesn't mean you get to benefit: A Long Island man was arrested for refusing to give up the $11,270 accidentally deposited into his Capital One account. Newsday reports that Carlos Morales' account was "mistakenly credited"—which really means "A bank teller had erroneously deposited these funds." Morales withdrew the money over a five-month period and Nassau County's Crimes Against Property Squad said even though Capitol One "contacted the defendant on numerous occasions asking the defendant to return the funds," Morales didn't respond. He is now charged with grand larceny. Also, if the ATM "accidentally" gives you more money than it should, report it and return it or you could faces charges. more ›

Even though consumer banks seem to be opening on every block these days, a new study from the Pew Charitable Trust shows that a staggering 12% of New York households still don't have bank accounts, preferring to cash their checks and hide their savings in their houses. Many of those are low-income earners and the NY Times cites LES bodega owner, Jose Alberto Abreau, as an example: "When he makes 'good money,' he said, he asks friends to take it to his family in the Dominican Republic." Additionally, he has repeatedly refused offers from credit union workers trying to convince him to build a credit history. Not surprisingly, the volatile economy hasn't helped banks earn anyone's trust. Peter Mosbacher of Amalgamated Bank admitted that they "are having that challenge to get people to understand that the American banking system is stable." Maybe the skeptics are on to something, though, because how is anyone supposed to trust banks when they take years to catch NYU scammers? more ›

You know that ATM scam where four friends from NYU were busted for repeatedly claiming their ATM cards were stolen when they were actually taking in $422,000? Well, the Post reports that it went on for so long (between 2003 and 2008) "because bank officials thought it was easier to just pay up, according to one of the investigators who helped break the case." Former NYPD detective Harry Houck Jr. says that he questioned one of the suspects, John Tluczek, who claimed his ATM card was stolen and account looted—Tluczek's excuse: "I was planning to go on vacation, and I had a piece of paper in my car that had all my PINs written down. I just left it in my car." Houck was suspicious and found out that Tluczek wasn't even on vacation! "But Houck said that when he called other banks to ask them about Tluczek, they had also heard of him, but decided to just pay him off rather than fight. The banks paid because Tluczek and his cohorts were taking advantage of a part of federal banking law that allows people to get money back within 10 days if their ATM cards are stolen and used to make withdrawals." Investigators think Tluczek and his cohorts' haul could tally up to $1 million. more ›

In what Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes describes as "really a beaut of a scam," four friends from the NYU finance school are accused of ripping off Brooklyn banks for $422,000. Exploiting a regulation that requires banks to repay customers who claimed their ATM cards were lost or stolen within 10 days, the four allegedly made large withdraws from their accounts repeatedly over five years, then claimed that their cards had been stolen. "The scheme was as simple as it was brazen," Hynes told reporters today. The defendants were allegedly captured by video cameras when taking the money out, but they almost always wore motorcycle helmets or other covering to hide their identities. The accused are lawyer Eric Manganelli, 36; financial consultant Lam Dang, 37; bank employee John Tluczek, 37; and his wife, Marzena Tluczek, 35. They face multiple counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records and other charges, and each faces 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison for the top counts. The scheme was finally discovered after one bank investigator called another bank and they began comparing notes. more ›

Easygoing banks like TD Bank try to cultivate a customer-friendly atmosphere by cheerfully greeting customers, handing out lollipops, and making sure there's no oppressive bulletproof glass harshing the vibe. But now the City Council, acting like a bunch of squares telling the hippies to put their clothes on, is considering a law to force banks to use the "bandit barriers." At a Public Safety Committee hearing yesterday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly testified in support of the legislation, arguing that 47% of robberies in NYC in 2008 occurred at banks with bandit barriers, while 53% went down at banks without them. (The NYPD says there were 444 bank robbery attempts in 2008 — both failed and successful — up 57 percent from 2007.) But Gregory Braca, TD Bank’s president of operations, begged the Council to drop the bill, citing "evidence that if we had to install barriers, it could increase the risk of hostage-taking and injury to our customers." One TD Bank customer explained the appeal to the Times: "With that glass, you feel like you're in a government office, where the lady just talks to you through the little window." (And never offers you a lolly.) more ›

A retired NYPD sergeant with no prior criminal record was arrested yesterday just minutes after robbing a Long Island bank. Thomas Feeney, 47, who retired 12 years ago because of knee injures and a heart condition, allegedly walked into a Huntington Station bank Tuesday morning and passed the teller a note demanding cash and calling attention to the loaded .38-caliber pistol tucked in his waistband. He walked out with an undisclosed sum, but one brave bank employee trailed him to his SUV and phoned in his license plate to police, who pulled him over just a couple miles away. Besides the gun and the cash, cops found a badge noting he was a retired NYPD officer in his pocket (but arrested him anyway!). Sgt. Robert Doyle of the Major Case Investigations Unit tells Newsday, "He said he'd been out so long that he doesn't get much money in disability anymore." Apparently, Feeney's got credit card debt in the five figure range, and Doyle tells the Post the bank job "appears to be economically motivated." But let's not rule out thirst for adventure as a motive, either. more ›

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Regulators have told Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. that the banks may need to raise more capital based on early results of the government's so-called stress tests of lenders, according to people familiar with the situation." The extra capital would be a "buffer" in case the banks' losses continue to grow. Apparently both banks are trying to develop arguments disputing the findings (for instance, BoA's shortfall is in the billions). The AP points out that, for the Treasury, "the easiest way to bolster bank balance sheets is to convert the government's existing stake from preferred shares — a form of debt — into common shares that carry voting rights." Last week, the federal government said capital needs weren't necessariy a measure of "current solvency or viability of the firm," but worries, coupled with swine flu concerns, have sent stock futures down. more ›