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FOCUS - 1 of 3 DOCUMENTS Return Copyright 2009 Hoover's, Inc., All Rights Reserved Hoover's Industry Snapshots February 24, 2009 BANKING * * * * * * * * * * KEY PLAYERS * * * * * * * * * * James "Jamie" Dimon - The former president of Citigroup was hired in March 2000 as chairman and CEO of BANK ONE to right the course of the sixth-largest bank in the US. He became president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase in 2006, less than two years after it bought BANK ONE. Ben Bernanke - The Fed chairman sets interest rates and charts course for US monetary policy. Sworn in as the 14th chairman in the history of the Federal Reserve in early 2006, Bernanke is the first new chief of that institution in more than 18 years. He emerges from the considerable shadow of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan. Ken Lewis - Bank of America's leader has been the catalyst for two major acquisitions in recent years, FleetBoston and MBNA, that have made the company the largest consumer bank in the country. * * * * * * * * * * DESCRIPTION * * * * * * * * * * Companies that provide banking services such as checking and savings; deposits; loans, leases, mortgages, and credit cards; ATM networks; securities brokerage; investment banking; insurance; and mutual funds and pension funds. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW: Constancy has long been the hallmark of the banking industry, but the ability to adapt may be a bank's greatest asset. The wave of mega-mergers that swept over the industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s has been replaced by the era of mega-mega mergers. When JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America (BofA) bought fellow top-ten banks (BANK ONE and FleetBoston, respectively) in 2004, the deals thrust them into the rarefied air of US financial institutions with more than $1 trillion in assets. (The granddaddy of them all, Citigroup, remains the largest US bank.) Later, BofA bought one of the top credit card issuers in the US, MBNA. Top-ten banks Wachovia and SunTrust kept pace by acquiring SouthTrust and National Commerce Financial, respectively, in 2004, while Regions Financial built itself into a top-ten bank by acquiring Union Planters and AmSouth. As a result of these combinations, the ten largest banks in the US control approximately two-thirds of the lending market and deposits. But there has been some backlash against this wheeling and dealing, as customers become alienated by megabanks and seek more personalized service. Just when it seemed that everyone was saying the Internet would make branch banking obsolete, two financial institutions in the Northwest, Umpqua Bank and the largest thrift in the US, Washington Mutual, spearheaded a trend by making branches (or stores, as some in the industry now call them) less staid by fomenting a casual atmosphere, offering amenities like free coffee and chocolates, newspapers and Internet access, and kids' play rooms. The blueprint has since been adopted by industry players such as U.S. Bancorp and Commerce Bancorp. The latter has taken the concept a step further by modeling itself after successful retail chains like Wal-Mart by extending hours and hiring greeters. Still, some customers prefer no personal interaction. While not yet as revolutionary as originally advertised, Web-based banking continues to grow; the percentage of electronic transactions has about doubled since 2001. Banks both large and small, as well as several insurance companies (State Farm, Allstate), offer Web sites where customers can access accounts and buy financial products. Taking advantage of this low-cost access channel, some Web-only banks such as ING Direct and E*TRADE Bank (owned by ING Groep and E*TRADE Financial, respectively) lure customers online by offering higher interest rates on deposits than their bricks-and-mortar counterparts do. Financial institutions hope this trend continues as Internet transactions, as well as those made with a debit card, cost considerably

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less for them than in-branch visits and check and credit card transactions. However, US consumers lag far behind their counterparts in Canada, Europe, and the Pacific Rim in utilizing these access channels.

KEY COMPANIES: Banks (Ranked By Assets) COMPANY Barclays UBS HSBC Holdings Citigroup BNP Paribas Royal Bank of Scotland Mizuho Financial JPMorgan Chase Bank of America Deutsche Bank

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* * * * * * * * * * RESOURCES * * * * * * * * * * ASSOCIATIONS & ORGANIZATIONS: American Bankers Association - http://www.aba.com ATM Industry Association - http://www.atmia.com/ Bank Administration Institute - http://www.bai.org Bank for International Settlements - http://www.bis.org Consumer Bankers Association - http://www.cbanet.org Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - http://www.fdic.gov Independent Community Bankers of America - http://www.icba.org The Institute of Canadian Bankers - http://www.icb.org Institute of International Bankers - http://www.iib.org Japanese Bankers Association - http://www.zenginkyo.or.jp/en/index.html National Credit Union Administration - http://www.ncua.gov Office of Thrift Supervision - http://www.ots.treas.gov World Council of Credit Unions - http://www.woccu.org/ SELECTED RESOURCES: American Banker Online - http://www.americanbanker.com Trade Show News Network - http://www.tsnn.com LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2009