Troubled Premier Bank of Wilmette, IL, was closed today by state regulators.  The FDIC, named as receiver, sold the failed bank to International Bank of Chicago, Chicago, IL, which will assume all deposits of failed Premier Bank. Premier’s two branches will reopen Saturday as branches of International Bank and all Premier depositors will automatically become depositors of [...]

Covenant Bank & Trust, Rock Spring, Georgia, in business since only 2006, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.  The FDIC, appointed as receiver, sold the failed bank to Stearns Bank, N.A., St. Cloud, Minnesota, which will assume all deposits of failed Covenant Bank. Covenant Bank & Trust was established as a community bank in 2006 at a time [...]

New City Bank, Chicago, Illinois, is the second bank to fail in Illinois this year.  The insolvent bank was closed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the FDIC was named as receiver.  The FDIC was unable to find a buyer for the failed bank, the second time this has happened in the past month. The failure of the FDIC to find a buyer for failed [...]

Georgia was the epicenter of banking failures last year and the trend seems to be continuing in 2012 as regulators close another failed Georgia bank.  During 2011 Georgia had 23 bank failures, accounting for 25% of all 92 bank failures that occurred last year.  Of the 12 failed banks this year, three have been in Georgia. The latest Georgia banking failure is Global Commerce Bank, [...]

The FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile for the fourth quarter of 2011 shows a modest but steady recovery in the banking industry.  Despite the fact that a majority of banks reported improved quarterly earnings, 813 institutions remain on the Problem Bank List, comprising 11% of all FDIC insured banks and savings associations. Highlights of the 2011 fourth quarter Quarterly [...]

Regulators closed two banks in Minnesota and Georgia, bringing the total number of banking failures for the year to eleven.  A total of four bank failures have now occurred in Minnesota and Georgia.  During all of 2011 a total of only two banks failed in Minnesota.  Georgia had a total of 23 bank failures during 2011, the most of any state and accounting for 25% of the 92 bank [...]

Home Savings of America, which was established during the depths of the Great Depression, was closed by regulators today.  The Bank was established on September 1, 1934 and operated as a federally chartered stock savings and loan association, headquartered in Little Falls, Minnesota. According to Home Savings of America’s website, the Bank’s niche was serving senior [...]

Any bank that can last for 102 years deserves special recognition for surviving business panics, stock market crashes, world wars and economic depressions.  The Central Bank of Georgia, Ellaville, GA, is in this category, having been established on September 16, 1910 and surviving until today when the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the Bank. Central Bank of Georgia’s [...]

The FDIC posted today the list of enforcement actions taken in January 2012 against problem banks.  A total of 42 enforcements actions were taken in January compared to 57 in December. Enforcement actions for January included 13 consent orders, 11 civil money penalties, 5 prompt corrective actions and 7 orders to terminate consent orders and cease and desist orders. Most of the [...]

How does the average consumer get by without a basic checking account?  How does someone without a checking account pay the bills that arrive each month – drive around to each creditor and pay in cash?  Where do you keep your savings – under the mattress or buried in the back yard? As incredible as it may seem, millions of Americans have neither savings or checking [...]