Crains New York - December 10, 2012 - (Page 4)

Crain’s sets Web access plan Starting today, Crain’s New York Business introduces a new metered subscription plan for its CrainsNewYork.com website. Under this new plan, CrainsNewYork .com will provide readers with full access to Crain’s awardwinning content, including stories, blog posts, lists, podcasts, photo galleries and videos, the complete weekly print issue and a library of 10 years of Crain’s archives. The full digital access is valid across all devices: your computer, smartphone and tablet. Crain’s has been charging for online access to the weekly issue for years, but under this new metered plan, all site visitors will be able to read up to 10 Crain’s articles per month at no charge. After the 10 articles are accessed, site visitors will be asked to pay $57 for an annual digital subscription or $67 for a combination print/digital subscription that includes delivery of the weekly newspaper. Current subscribers will see no change in their subscription plan. Crain’s print subscribers already have full access to CrainsNewYork.com. Those subscribers are encouraged to take full advantage of the online content that’s already included in their printsubscription package by authenticating their digital access at CrainsNewYork .com/DigitalAccess and following the easy log-in instructions. The majority of website users will see no change, said Crain’s New York Business Publisher Jill Kaplan. “We have enhanced the user experience of our website and instituted a current and fair subscription model that allows our editorial team to continue to provide high-quality journalism,” she explained. “It satisfies the heavy website user’s need for deeper Crain’s content while leaving lighter users’ access to the site unaffected.” For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, go to CrainsNewYork.com/Subscribe. Or call the customer-support team at (877) 824-9379. IN THE MARKETS by Aaron Elstein Citi branch cuts? Just the beginning L ast week, Citigroup Inc. announced yet another round of job cuts when it said 11,000 employees would be shown the door, including 1,700 in New York. In addition to the Wall Street dealmakers and traders whose ranks have been dwindling at Citi and other big banks for several years now, a new group of employees had a target slapped on its back: More than half of the Citibankers getting pink-slipped—6,200—are in the division that serves consumers’ basic financial needs. branches is more or less correct. Branches are great billboards for banks, but considering how expensive they are to operate, it’s baffling that banks invested so much in them. PNC said it costs the bank $3.97 every time a customer visits a branch to cash a check, inquire about balances or report a problem, according to a report last week from RBC Capital Markets.The same transactions cost the bank 59 cents when handled by an ATM and only nine cents online or via smartphone. Chase executives earlier this year disclosed that their bank would lose money on nearly half its retail customers, and no wonder. No doubt more revenuesqueezed banks will be forced to shrink their branch networks, with last week’s announcement from Citi underscoring how bloated many institutions remain even after years of cutting people and pulling out of riskier lines of business. The RBC report estimated that the 20 largest banks need to cut their operating costs by one-sixth and fire about 5% of their workforces to get expenses in line with revenue. One way banks as a group could cut half the costs they need is by closing about 8,000 branches. The question, then, would be which branches to close. Presumably, banks would target the most unprofitable ones. That’s where things could get explosive, as the needs of banks may well clash with the political pressures to remain visible in some communities, especially those that aren’t so wealthy. Crain’s New York Business @CrainsNewYork Crain’s New York Business thoroughly covers NYC’s major industries, including Wall Street, media, the arts, real estate, retail, hospitality, and more. New York, NY http://www.crainsnewyork.com Crain’s Stats and The City @StatsAndTheCity Crain’s Real Estate @CNYBRealEstate Daily coverage of real estate breaking news, deals, executive moves, and events. New York, NY http://www.crainsnewyork.com/realestate News with numbers, brought to you by @CrainsNewYork. New York, NY http://www.crainsnewyork.com/cityfacts Crain’s Small Business @CNYBsmallbiz The @CrainsNewYork guide for small businesses that helps you learn what you need to succeed. New York, NY http://www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz Loan officers and tellers are getting sacked because Citi’s total consumer loan portfolio is 2% lower than a year ago and 20% smaller than four years ago—and has little chance of recovering anytime soon. With bankers writing fewer mortgages and home-equity loans, Citi is closing 44 U.S. branches, or about 4% of its retail network in this country.The bank didn’t specify last week which ones are to be closed, but a recent filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency showed it will shutter a branch at the corner of Canal and Mercer streets in SoHo, plus branches across the Hudson River in Bayonne, Nutley, Roseland and Springfield, N.J. It’s a sign of the times. Bank of America is lopping off 750 branches, and JPMorgan Chase earlier this year said it would reconfigure its branch business by closing some in lessprosperous areas and focusing on regions with wealthier clients. Bankers like Chase’s Jamie Dimon say closures are driven by new regulations that make it tougher to cover branch operating costs.That’s true, but the main issue is oversupply. Over a 25-year stretch beginning in 1982, the number of commercial banking branches across the nation doubled to more than 83,000, even as consolidation shrank the number of banking companies by more than half, according to federal regulatory data. So, yes, your impression that your favorite little shops around the corner were being constantly replaced by Chase, BofA or Wells Fargo 4 | Crain’s New York Business | December 10, 2012 buck ennis http://www.CrainsNewYork.com http://www.CrainsNewYork.com/Subscribe http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/cityfacts http://www.crainsnewyork.com/realestate http://www.crainsnewyork.com/smallbiz

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - December 10, 2012

THE INSIDER
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: PHILANTHROPY
THE LIST
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - December 10, 2012