Is Your Institution "Safe & Sound?" Bankrate.com's Rating System

Bankrate.com's Safe & Sound^® rating system allows consumers to evaluate financial institutions on a 1-5 star rating system. Consumers can easily search their city for a bank or credit union with a 5-star rating, alleviating potential concerns of the institution's stability.

According to Bankrate's website, "Safe & Sound^® is a proprietary system designed to provide information on the relative financial strength and stability of U.S. commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions." The system assesses each institution on 22 tests to measure:

• Capital adequacy
• Asset quality
• Profitability
• Liquidity
  

With 7 million unique monthly visitors, Bankrate.com is a well-known resource for consumers and businesses seeking financial services.

For those financial institutions looking to capitalize on safety, security and stability in these tumultuous times, a 5-star rating from an independent entity like Bankrate.com just may be the tonic.

BusinessWeek Questions Bank of America's Survival

A current BusinessWeek article questions the survival of Bank of America, given its mounting financial challenges, investor discontent and flight of top talent. Here's a summary:

• The bailout to-date for Bank of America: $138 billion
• Since October 2008, the bank's share price has fallen 70%
• Analysts estimate the bank has $500 billion of problem assets
• Top talent is leaving the commercial bank, the newly-acquired Merrill brokerage and some employees are volunteering for layoffs

To read the entire BusinessWeek article, Click Here.

Chase Offering $100 for a New Account

This week's most compelling marketing offer comes from Chase Bank. I received a direct mail offer to receive $100 when I opened a new personal checking account. Here's the details:

• the mail was unaddressed: "Our Neighbor"
  
• with an opening deposit of $100, I will receive $100 within 10 business days
• the account must remain open for 6 months
  
• I can open the account online with a provided coupon code or at my nearest branch (the nearest location was lasered onto the direct mail piece)
• no minimum balance required
  
• no monthly service fee with direct deposit or five debit purchases
  
• one reward per customer per year
• the offer excludes High School CheckingSM, Chase College CheckingSM, Chase Access CheckingSM, and New Jersey Consumer Checking Account