Thread: Wachovia to shut 200 branches before 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB - News) on Wednesday said it plans to shut about 200 branches nationwide by the end of 2008 as it focuses on aggressive expansion in California, Texas and the U.S. southwest.

The No. 4 U.S. bank, which operates 3,400 branches, joins rivals such as Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE:WM - News) that are closing branches to focus on faster-growing markets and businesses.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia expects to open 100 to 130 branches in 2007, but few in the eastern part of the country, including New York. It expects next year to open 25 to 30 branches in southern California, which it entered in March.

"We're expanding in the high-growth markets," said Ben Jenkins, head of Wachovia's retail and business banking unit, at a Merrill Lynch & Co. financial services conference. "We're consolidating in the lower opportunity markets that have had traffic pattern changes."

He said Wachovia plans to close about 100 branches a year "at least for the next two years."

Like most U.S. banks, Wachovia is battling the convergence of long- and short-term interest rates, which narrowed the gap between what it earns on loans and pays on deposits.

Wachovia added 19 branches in California in March when it paid $3.8 billion for auto lender Westcorp Inc. and its WFS Financial Inc. affiliate.

In October, Wachovia paid $24.3 billion for Golden West Financial Corp., an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) specialist with 285 World Savings Bank branches in 10 states.

Wachovia was criticized for the purchase amid signs of a housing slowdown. But Jenkins said Golden West's loan originations and margins were "pretty stable" in October, despite "a pretty tough market with an inverted yield curve."

He said the combined company's "pay option" ARM business, which involves loans that let borrowers choose how much to pay each month, will in 2007 be "materially better" than in 2006.

In New York, Wachovia has opened about 19 branches in Manhattan, including many intended to serve customers who commute to work from the suburbs, and five on Long Island.

Jenkins said he would "love to have" 25 branches in Manhattan and 10 on Long Island. But he added: "I don't see any need for acquisitions here. I think we can build in Manhattan in just the locations we want, and do very well."

Seattle-based Washington Mutual, the largest savings and loan, in September announced plans to close 80 branches within a year, including many around Atlanta and Chicago.

Source of story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/061115/financia ... .html?.v=2

Posters note:
Wachovia is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, enabler of illegal aliens. Notice that they are now moving most of their branches to areas that have a very high population of illegals. Good ridance to bad rubbish.

For people like me who may have not read this article, it mentions ALIPAC and the bank, illegal alien connection.

Posted on Mon, Aug. 28, 2006



Banks creative in courting Latinos
Firms try offerings from Spanish-speaking staff to free money transfers
RICK ROTHACKER AND BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com | bappelbaum@charlotteobserver.com
In the pursuit of Hispanic customers, banks have hired bilingual tellers, relaxed lending rules, even distributed financial literacy materials in the style of Spanish soap operas.

The latest push is to offer low-cost services to transfer money to friends and relatives in foreign countries. Some, including Bank of America Corp. and BB&T Corp., offer transfers for free.

The only requirement: Senders must open a bank account.

The arrival of banks in a business long dominated by wire services, such as Western Union, has sharply reduced the cost of sending money. That's because most banks aren't trying to make money off the transactions.

"Bank of America is not in the business of sending remittances; we are here to establish long-term relationships," said Marcos Rosenberg, Bank of America's executive for Hispanic checking.

Worldwide remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean rose to over $53.6 billion in 2005, with $20 billion going to Mexico, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. About 75 percent of the total came from the United States. But banks have only a sliver of the market.

Many Latinos come from countries where banks are distrusted. They prefer the anonymity of wire-service transfers. There are relatively few bank branches in the farming areas and inner cities where immigrants live. The hours may be inconvenient. Communication can be difficult.

There is also the sticky question of illegal immigrants.

Bank of America, Wachovia and most other large banks insist they have taken no position on illegal immigration. They say they don't know the immigration status of their customers. The law does not require them to ask. And they note that illegal immigrants form a minority of the nation's Latino population.

Critics say the banks have taken a position through their actions. They serve illegal immigrants, which makes it easier for those people to remain and prosper in the U.S. Both Bank of America and Wachovia accept as valid ID a Mexican document called a matricula consular, relied on almost exclusively by illegal immigrants.

"Illegal immigration, combined with unscrupulous companies, is killing this country," says William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, a Raleigh-based political action committee that advocates more control of immigration.

Banks began to focus on Hispanics after the 2000 U.S. Census highlighted the community's booming growth, said Gwenn Bézard, research director at Boston-based financial-services consultancy Aite Group LLC.

In the most recent numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's Hispanic population increased more than 18 percent to 41.9 million from 2000 to 2005, while the non-Hispanic population rose less than 1 percent to 246.5 million.

The estimated illegal immigration population is 12 million, up from 8.4 million in 2000. The Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center has estimated that 390,000 illegal immigrants live in North Carolina and 55,000 live in South Carolina.

"There's not much organic growth in mainstream America, if you will," Bézard said. "Mainstream America is banked. The immigrant population is a source of organic growth."

Most banks, including Charlotte's giants, are trying to serve Hispanics through existing branches. But the boom has also led to the creation of institutions focused primarily on the Hispanic community.

Here's a look at the effort of Charlotte-area institutions to woo Hispanic customers.

Bank of America

Bank of America's branches are concentrated on the coasts and in the Sun Belt, the regions where the Hispanic population is booming.Bank executives say 93 percent of U.S. Hispanics live in their footprint.

The bank advertises in Spanish and sends employees to ethnic street festivals. It aims for a work force that resembles its customers. It has hired bilingual tellers, and added Hispanics to its board of directors.

Perhaps the most intentional strategy was the 2005 launch of SafeSend, a program that offers free money transfers to Mexico to anyone who opens a checking account. The bank loses money on each transfer, but it hopes the people who open accounts will eventually take a loan, sign up for a credit card, put money in savings -- and tell friends.

SafeSend mimics wire services. Money sent before 2 p.m. can be picked up the same day, in cash, at 4,500 locations throughout Mexico. A customer can send up to $1,500 at a time, up to $3,000 in any 30-day period.

The bank will not disclose exact numbers, but it has signed up about 250,000 people, some of whom already had a Bank of America account. About 70 percent of the people who sign up have transferred money.

The bank is now considering offering free transfers to other countries, Rosenberg said.

Wachovia

Wachovia has stayed relatively quiet as other large banks vied to catch the attention of the Hispanic community. But a recent push into Texas and California is changing that.

Executives estimate 50 percent of the population growth in the bank's footprint will now come from the Hispanic community. The bank started offering Spanish-language statements about six months ago. About 40,000 customers have signed up.

Recent ads have featured Hispanic customers, sometimes speaking Spanish.

The Charlotte company also offers a foreign remittance card that lets customers send money to friends and family in a range of foreign countries. After the first use, customers are charged $10 every time they add money to the card. While a higher fee than some banks charge, it's significantly less than wire services might charge on large transfers.

Like its competitors, Wachovia has struggled to attract remittance customers. "I don't think any financial institution has cracked that nut yet," said Chris Butler, Hispanic segment director at Wachovia.

Next up for Wachovia are in-house training programs for branch workers, starting this fall. The sessions include cultural awareness training for nonbilingual workers that includes learning Spanish phrases to help greet customers and introduce them to bilingual tellers. The bank also is teaching bilingual employees more technical financial terms in Spanish.

BB&T

Financial education has been a focus of BB&T's efforts to attract Hispanic customers -- a response to the fact that many Hispanics are uncomfortable with banks. Since 2002, the Winston-Salem bank has offered Spanish language audiotapes that educate immigrants about banking and life in the U.S.The tapes use a soap opera format to explain everything from how to obtain a mortgage to information about calling 911 in an emergency, said Teresa Mackey, Hispanic segment manager. The bank issued the ninth installment last month of the 60-minute "BiBi" tapes, named after the main character.

The bank this year also launched a money transfer service, EasySend, that lets customers send money anywhere in the world free of charge, if they open a bank account.

The bank has designated 140 branches as Hispanic locations, with bilingual tellers and Spanish language literature. BB&T also is planning on opening smaller branches in strip shopping centers with a Hispanic focus, starting with a test program in Washington.

These locations may feature employees in less formal dress as a way to make customers comfortable. "For new immigrants it can be really intimidating going into a bank," Mackey said.

Banco de la Gente

To attract Hispanic customers, Newton-based Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Inc. did more than just hire a few bilingual tellers. Two years ago, it created a Hispanic subsidiary and gave the new unit a Spanish name -- Banco de la Gente. The name means "People's Bank" in Spanish.

Now the bank has branches on Charlotte's South Boulevard and Central Avenue and in Monroe, $28 million in assets and $7 million in deposits. The locations are hard to miss, emblazoned with bold green-and-yellow signs.

From the beginning, the bank has worked to cater to special needs of Hispanics. For blue-collar workers, the bank is open seven days a week as late as 7:30 p.m. The bank offers check cashing to nonclients, a choice of remittance services for a variety of fees and even accounts that come with disability insurance.

About 80 percent of the clientele is blue-collar, 15 percent professional and 5 percent businesses with a high concentration of Latino customers. The bank hasn't faced much competition from larger banks, because such banks target a higher-income population, says Manuel Rey, a former Wachovia executive who leads the bank.

"Banco de la Gente is a grass-roots effort," said Rey, who was born in Texas but spent much of his youth in Mexico City. "It comes from the community."

He hopes to add a branch in the Triad -- the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem area -- this spring, and later go to Raleigh.

Latino Community Credit Union

Latino Community Credit Union was created to serve the immigrant community.

Founded in 2001, headquartered in Durham, it has five branches, including one off Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. The credit union has 45,000 members, most of them immigrants.

About 75 percent of members are first-time account holders. Most have only a few hundred dollars in their accounts.

Credit unions are owned by their members, and run for their benefit. Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Credito, as it is known in Spanish, works to help members establish credit so they can borrow money. It graduates people from starter accounts to credit cards to car loans to mortgage loans, boosting them up the ladder.

This summer, LCCU became the first credit union in the country to use a new low-cost remittance system operated by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Mexico. The service, Directo a Mexico, lets account holders send remittances for a flat fee of $3, provided the recipient also opens an account with a Mexican financial institution.

The credit union has become one of the largest users of the program. -- Staff Writer Franco Ordoñez contributed.

-- Rick Rothacker: 704-358-5235

Binyamin Appelbaum: 704-358-5170

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/observer/15378302.htm

Blood sucking money grubbers!

Added to Home Page

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1686

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia expects to open 100 to 130 branches in 2007, but few in the eastern part of the country, including New York. It expects next year to open 25 to 30 branches in southern California, which it entered in March.

Wachovia added 19 branches in California in March when it paid $3.8 billion for auto lender Westcorp Inc. and its WFS Financial Inc. affiliate.

In October, Wachovia paid $24.3 billion for Golden West Financial Corp., an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) specialist with 285 World Savings Bank branches in 10 states.

This tells me that the banks (especially Wachovia) know something we don't. In addition to sinking billions and billions of dollars to add so many new branches in the west/southwest, they spent nearly 30 billion to buy up an auto lender and a mortage company (dispite sagging home sales?). No business enterprise makes this substantial of an investment unless it's a sure thing.

Originally Posted by greyparrot

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia expects to open 100 to 130 branches in 2007, but few in the eastern part of the country, including New York. It expects next year to open 25 to 30 branches in southern California, which it entered in March.

[quote:2wq0jibl]Wachovia added 19 branches in California in March when it paid $3.8 billion for auto lender Westcorp Inc. and its WFS Financial Inc. affiliate.

In October, Wachovia paid $24.3 billion for Golden West Financial Corp., an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) specialist with 285 World Savings Bank branches in 10 states.

This tells me that the banks (especially Wachovia) know something we don't. In addition to sinking billions and billions of dollars to add so many new branches in the west/southwest, they spent nearly 30 billion to buy up an auto lender and a mortage company (dispite a sagging home sales?). No business enterprise makes this substantial of an investment unless it's a sure thing.[/quote:2wq0jibl]
You GOT IT........Grey!!

They certainly are expecting AMNESTY and the NAU

.

I'm going to call my financial advisor at Wachovia Securities
tomorrow & ask him if I can remove my social security
number from my account since it is not required anymore.

Originally Posted by dem4labor

I'm going to call my financial advisor at Wachovia Securities
tomorrow & ask him if I can remove my social security
number from my account since it is not required anymore.

DEM
about a year and a half ago, I ripped all our banking out of Wachovia. They're deeply involved in promoting ILLEGALS and AMNESTY.

.

I'm going to call my financial advisor at Wachovia Securities
tomorrow & ask him if I can remove my social security
number from my account since it is not required anymore.

Brilliant!

Originally Posted by dem4labor

I'm going to call my financial advisor at Wachovia Securities
tomorrow & ask him if I can remove my social security
number from my account since it is not required anymore.

Better still...........remove your account.