Colorado Springs Financial Briefs: August 10, 2007

Wells Fargo is cutting about 76 jobs in Colorado Springs as it transfers its home equity loan operation to similar facilities in Phoenix and Des Moines, Iowa.

"The home equity environment that we are currently experiencing has changed dramatically," said Mary Berg, Wells Fargo spokeswoman. "Home equity had been growing at a very large rate in the past five years, and recently we've seen business slow down a bit."

Wells Fargo will still provide other services at its customer service center at 526 Chapel Hills Drive. Customers will not notice a difference with the closing of Wells Fargo Equity Direct program in Colorado Springs because staff at the service center processed the loans over the telephone, Berg said.

The company said it decided to close the Colorado Springs location because facilities in Phoenix and Iowa are bigger.

Some Wells Fargo employees were notified about the layoffs in July, Berg said. Layoffs will begin on Sept. 21 and will be phased out through the end of 2007.

"We still have the operations going until the volume is transferred over to the other facilities," Berg said. "This gives them (the employees) enough time to find other positions, which we are hoping we can keep as many of these team members as possible and move them to other facilities within Wells Fargo."

Colorado bank receives highest rating in region

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has issued its list of state non-member banks evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

Fowler State Bank in Fowler was the only Colorado bank to be included in the August listing and it was the only bank in the Dallas region to receive an "outstanding" rating, which is the highest rating given by the FDIC.

The list covers evaluation ratings that the FDIC assigned to institutions during May. The CRA is a 1977 law that encourages insured banks and thrifts to meet local credit needs, including those of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations.

USAA warns members about phishing scam

USAA is investigating a phishing scam that attempts to collect members' information.

Members have received e-mails that urge them to download a "USAA Online Banking Tool" to guard against phishing attacks. The e-mail directs members to a counterfeit Web site that might contain malicious software designed to capture sensitive information.

USAA will not ask for any personal or account information, including PINs or passwords, in an e-mail. USAA also will not ask members to download software or threaten any action if you do not respond by a certain deadline.

If you are suspicious about any e-mails or Web sites claiming to be from USAA, call (877) 632-3002.

Caribbean scam links to U.S. bank

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued an alert about credit card fraud, one which bankers expect they will be seeing a lot more of in the future.

A3Card, an independent debit card issuer in association with Caribbean Software LTD in the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean, was using the name of 4-Star Cumberland Valley National Bank & Trust Co., East Bernstadt, Ky., on its Web site to give the appearance that the U.S. bank was behind the card.

By fraudulently attaching the name of a legitimate U.S. bank, the Caribbean-based scheme probably got away with a lot more than it should have, according to the Bauerfinancial group.

For more information call (800) 388-6686 or visit www.bauerfinancial.com.

Sarah Colwell covers banking and finance for the Colorado Springs Business Journal.

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