Mark Cochran
Then a 12-year veteran of commercial banking, Mark Cochran joined the credit union world in 1993.
John F. Kingston
John Kingston made a major career change 17 years ago in order to spend more time with his family. He meant it.
Lynne M. Wallace
Lynn Wallace has a great phone personality. It’s easy to see how easily she dives into teamwork, both within a work environment and on the volunteer front – and to get all hands on deck to be eager to join her.
Zelle P2P Goes Mainstream
The nation’s largest banks have moved into the person-to-person payment sphere with the rollout of Zelle, a bank-owned mobile application that allows customers to make P2P payments without leaving the protection of the data center of their financial institution.
Elizabeth Gruber
Elizabeth Gruber knows how to balance the strengths of the private market with the need for more housing production in Massachusetts. Her description of the New Market Tax Credit as an instrument to bring the discipline of private capital into a process promotive of public welfare, sums up her philosophical approach to doing well by doing good.
DOB Ups The Ante On Combating Elder Financial Abuse
The voice on the phone tells an elder they’ve won a million dollars in a lottery/sweepstakes, and in order to disburse the funds, an upfront payment is needed for tax purposes.
SBLI Of MA Reverse-Engineers
Policyholders for the Savings Bank Life Insurance Co. of Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly in favor of the company’s plan to return to a mutually-owned company from the shareholder-owned status it has held since 1992.
Paradoxes Of The Economic Recovery
The economic rebound from the 2008 recession is a rising tide that doesn’t necessarily lift all boats. Several sectors are showing mixed-blessing results, including credit card lending, retail, manufacturing, real estate and some financial sectors.
Stepping Back From Dodd-Frank
The Dodd-Frank Act has been characterized as the financial industry’s version of the PATRIOT Act – drafted in a time of trauma. Now the nation’s financial sector is out of the ICU and into recovery and the next step will be to discharge it back home. But what, exactly, constitutes “home?”
Auto Loan Balances Hit Record Highs
Auto loan balances have reached a record high, fueled by steady sales growth in the post-recession economy. And as auto prices rise, auto loan terms are getting longer. Are consumers becoming overleveraged in their car purchases? Not necessarily, say auto lenders and industry experts. Subprime auto lending, which ramped up significantly after the recession, hit the brakes last year as big banks, fearing a runup in delinquencies, pulled back and went in search of consumers with higher credit scores for both new and used vehicles.
Insurance M&A Activity Reflects Global Trends Gone Regional
Merger and acquisition activity in the insurance sphere on the global stage cooled off in 2016 compared to the previous year, but the picture is different in the insurance distribution arena, where activity remained strong last year going into this year.
Credit Card Fraud Alerts Often Miss The Mark
Despite the introduction of EMV chip cards over the last several years, credit card fraud is on the rise as criminals find new ways to outsmart technology – but not all of the fraud flags raised are attributable to criminals.
Closing The Window On Cybercrime
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has provided the New England region’s banks a safe space to discuss cyber threats. The FRBB’s second annual Cybersecurity Conference, held this year on May 1, is the most recent event in its program to address and combat cyber threats.
Lessons To Learn From Big Bank Customer Service Crises
Two of the nation’s largest banks have experienced customer-service crises in the last two years that can provide object lessons for the industry.
As Interest Rate Rises, Timing Is Everything
The nation’s biggest banks’ first quarter 2017 results have contained positive results in the net interest income sphere – a continuation of a trend that started in 2016. Bank of America reported a 20.6 percent increase in net interest income over that of fourth-quarter 2016.
John C. Feitor
Hard work and volunteerism are the hallmarks of John Feitor’s life. When he emigrated from Portugal in 1968, he didn’t speak English. “I started from the bottom of the barrel as a cleaner and window washer, and worked my way up,” he said. He joined a small janitorial...
Diana Moreno
Diana Moreno’s 23-year career began on the banking side. After years of mergers and acquisitions, she began to want some stability, for herself and for the customers she served. Seven years ago a recruiter called her about a post at Metro Credit Union, and she’s been...
Margaret Briggs
Margaret Briggs got into environmental consultancy right out of college when the arena was in its infancy. She worked for HMM Associates for 18 years; it was bought out by Earth Tech, based in Concord, and later became AEcom. Desiring a return to midsized private...
Jeannette Lanza
Jeannette Lanza is a front-and-center example of the value of experience in the entrepreneurial process. Her strong suit is relationship-building. In 2012, after more than two decades of working within the industry, Lanza acquired Braintree-based H.J. Knight...
Ellen Tan
It call comes back to what her grandmother told her, Ellen Tan said: “When you love one another and take care of each other, everyone prospers.” Tan, who has spent 22 years with the Commonwealth Land Trust (CLT), is part of a hard-working family of Lebanese immigrants...
