Account America Bank Checking

Bank of America Corp. has launched a six-week sweepstakes to encourage saving through its Keep the Change program.

"Through the Monday Morning Quarterback promotion, we hope to highlight the importance of saving and remind customers that they can join the more than 6.5 million customers who have already saved more than $620 million just by enrolling in Keep the Change and using their debit cards for everyday purchases," says Susan Faulkner, deposits and student-lending executive.

Ailing E-Loan eyes checking, credit cards

Internet bank E-Loan Inc. plans to expand its non-mortgage product lines in 2008 after the housing downturn forced it to lay off 44 percent of the work force at its Pleasanton headquarters.

The 410-job reduction announced Nov. 8 was the second this year for E-Loan, a subsidiary of Banco Popular North America, owned by Popular Inc. of San Juan, Puerto Rico. A February restructuring by the parent company cost nearly three dozen E-Loan employees their jobs as Popular's U.S.

Check It Out

Bob in Pittsboro continues to defend the lame Bank of America greeter. (If you're new to this debate, a couple of weeks ago we wrote about being faux customer-serviced by a BOA greeter, who pretended to be concerned about our needs. Bob shot back that we were a "grouch" for not appreciating BOA's interest in us, its valued customer. We responded with a list of things we could have done in the 15 minutes we had to wait to see our senior personal banker.) Today, Bob continues to portray BOA as the victim."Not only a grouch," writes Bob, "but a poor planner. From BOA's Web site, here's what you could have done online ... . " He goes on to list several things that can be done with online banking -- which we have and use, thank you very much, Bob. Several things except what we needed to do, which was transfer funds from a CD account to checking, a simple task that we should not have to enlist the aid of an SPB in the first place! Which adds to our, yes, grouchiness!Bob concludes by offering one more thing we could have done in the 15 minutes we waited to see our SPB: "Try doing the 15-Minute Desk Workout (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKCPcRcJmqc) in the bank lobby.

Big U.S. banks vary widely on protecting consumers from fraud

Bank of America Corp. took top honors for the second year in a row in a report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft.J.P. Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo Co. tied for second place, and Citibank came in third in the study published by Javelin Strategy & Research.The study looked at 25 banks that together hold 50 percent of U.S. checking account deposits and counted only banks that have a brick-and-mortar presence. The study measured banks’ policies for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud, focusing on measures that consumers experience, not internal bank security policies. .

Fake Check Scam Uncovered

Carey Sonnier did not know what to think when she received a package containing $2,500 in traveler's checks last week.Sonnier's husband figured someone was repaying her for a loan.But Sonnier could not recall lending anyone any money, and she did not know anyone from Marysville, Wash., the return address on the package. "Right off the bat for me, it seemed kind of odd," said Sonnier, of New Iberia. "I would have loved for it to be real, but it wasn't."Sonnier later found out the checks were part of a fake check scam.Check scams usually entice the victim to deposit a check and send back a portion of the money to the sender to cover taxes or some other expenses, according to the Federal Trade Commission.Unfortunately, the checks are fake. The victim is responsible for the deposited check, along with any money they return to the sender.Sonnier said she received five Wells Fargo travelers checks, each for $500.

Smooth Landings Guaranteed for Travellers Heading To UK

Charterhouse Group International PTY is launching Smooth Landings, a new service designed to take the hassle out of travelling to the UK for work, it was announced today at the Sydney Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo Stand No. 70.

Amanda Miller, Managing Director, Charterhouse Group International PTY, Australia, said, "During the three years since we established operations here, market feedback has confirmed that Smooth Landings offers sensible arrivals packages with the reliability that is much in demand."

Available for the first time in Australia, Smooth Landings offers a range of arrival services including a UK Sterling bank accounts, UK national insurance registration, free visa consultations, accommodation assistance and more. In addition they offer a unique opportunity to claim back up top 40 per cent of the cost of your airfare to the UK.

Stocks jump as investors buy bargains and energy and metals producers; credit worries remain

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street bounded higher Tuesday as investors still mindful of widening credit problems nonetheless went in search of bargain stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 117 points, with soaring oil and precious metals prices driving up the companies that produce those commodities.Investors remain haunted by the big debt problems at banks, notably Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. But companies outside of the banking, lending and housing industries have been posting strong financial results — on Tuesday, Tenet Healthcare Corp., Nortel Networks Corp. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. impressed Wall Street with their quarterly earnings.And with no major bad news to follow up Citigroup’s Sunday announcement that it was preparing to mark down another $8 billion to $11 billion of subprime debt, even bank stocks, pummeled in recent months, looked like bargains.Citigroup fell, but JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Wachovia Corp., Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual Inc.