Word: citicorp
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...much like utilities. One recent study showed that 58% of consumers believed the Government should require banks to provide low-cost services for the poor. Bankers, however, view that as the next thing to socialism. "I think the industry is perfectly capable of meeting the needs of society," says Citicorp's Reed. "We're part of society, and we're decent people. I don't honestly believe it's necessary for the legislature to impose itself in this process." Some banks already offer so-called lifeline accounts with limited services but lower fees. Manufacturers Hanover...
...financial revolution is now giving birth to a new breed of banker, perhaps best symbolized by Citicorp's Reed, 45. The boyish-looking chairman, who was appointed last June as Wriston's successor, is a consumer-banking specialist with an affinity for long-shot risks. Reed's hits and misses during his career have both been spectacular. In 1980 and 1981 he showered the country with 26 million letters inviting consumers to apply for Visa cards. Many of them fell into the wallets of poor credit risks, and Citicorp rang up some $75 million in bad debts...
...button-down mold traditionally associated with high finance. Says Donald Waite, a director of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co.: "Bankers are no longer bankers. They are a whole lot of different things, and above all they are managers who can handle a group of disparate enterprises." At Citicorp, for example, Jesse Fink, 27, who studied forestry before receiving his M.B.A., heads the company's direct-mail program. Says he: "This organization is not very age conscious. You can get a lot of responsibility quickly." Says Vice President Jennie Schreder, 31, who used to conduct biophysics research...
...Says C. Robert Brenton, former president of the American Bankers Association: "The Government has no vision for the evolution of the financial-services system in this country. We are quickly putting together a jerry-built financial structure, which includes flaws that work against the best interest of the public." Citicorp, for instance, plans to offer insurance by mail from offices located in South Dakota, the only state that allows banks to enter that field. BankAmerica and others also sell stocks through discount brokers, which is legal as long as they offer no investment advice directly in connection with the trade...
Despite the 1927 Pepper-McFadden Act and many similar state laws that forbid banks to set up branch offices outside their home state, major institutions have exploited technicalities to spread like kudzu across the landscape. Citicorp now operates 980 offices in 41 states. Comptroller of the Currency Conover gave the movement a boost this month by approving permits for 83 so-called nonbank banks. These are institutions that can take deposits and provide all other financial services except making commercial loans. Banks have also tried to boost their share of the mortgage market by acquiring thrift institutions, the traditional source...