Green Dot Corporation (Green Dot) is a prepaid financial services company providing money management solutions to United States consumers. The Company is a provider of general purpose reloadable prepaid debit cards (GPR cards) in the United States and its Green Dot Network is the prepaid reload network in the United States. It sells its cards and offers its reload services at approximately 50,000 retail stores, which provide consumers access to its products and services. Its technology platform, Green PlaNET, enables real-time transactions in a secure environment.

Shares of GDOT traded up 0.72% hitting $50.20 during mid-day trading on Monday.

This article (UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) analysts give Green Dot (NASDAQ: GDOT) a “Neutral” Rating) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

Previously, Sloan was the San Francisco-based bank’s head of commercial banking, real estate, and specialized financial services. He had the position since 2006 and has been with the company since 1987.

“Tim has demonstrated the kind of business acumen and leadership that inspires teams to higher levels of performance,” said Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf. “He is a trustworthy and effective ambassador for the company, having cultivated long-term relationships with many valued clients.” The CEO added that the company wants to have “a more holistic approach to how we communicate our brand, engage with the communities we serve and develop our people.”

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) said that Sloan will be in charge of “the company’s brand, reputation-management, stakeholder-engagement and people-development efforts.”

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company. The Company provides retail, commercial and corporate banking services through banking stores located in 39 states and the District of Columbia. It provides other financial services, through subsidiaries engaged in various businesses, principally wholesale banking, mortgage banking, consumer finance, equipment leasing, agricultural finance, commercial finance, securities brokerage and investment banking, insurance agency and brokerage services, computer and data processing services, trust services, investment advisory services, mortgage-backed securities servicing and venture capital investment. The Company operates in three segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Wealth, Brokerage and Retirement. As of December 31, 2009, the Company provided banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 10,000 stores under various types of ownership and leasehold agreements.

Shares of Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) traded up 2.95% during mid-day trading on Friday.

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When Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) launched Buzz in February, it automatically included frequent Gmail contacts on people’s Buzz profiles public. The company was heavily criticized by the technology press and Google quickly made changes to give users better clarity about privacy settings, but those actions didn’t prevent lawsuits related to the leakage of private information such as one filed by Eva Hibnick back in February.

The settlement money will be donated to unspecified privacy groups according to a copy of the settlement which was made available on Friday. Google will also be required to “undertake wider public education about the privacy aspects of Buzz.” There were no specifics in the settlement related to what steps Google would have to take, but said that it would have to notify all Gmail users that it has reached a settlement.

Google Inc. maintains an index of Websites and other online content, and makes this information freely available through its search engine to anyone with an Internet connection. The Company’s automated search technology helps people obtain nearly instant access to relevant information from its online index. The Company generates revenue primarily by delivering online advertising. Businesses use its AdWords program to promote their products and services with targeted advertising. In addition, the thousands of third-party Websites that comprise the Google Network use its AdSense program to deliver relevant ads that generate revenue and enhance the user experience. In September 2009, the Company acquired ReCAPTCHA Inc., a spin-off of Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Science Department. In February 2010, it acquired Aardvark. In February 2010, it acquired On2 Technologies, Inc. In August 2010, it acquired Slide, a social technology company. In August 2010, it acquired Angstro.

Shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) traded up 1.54% on Friday, ending the week at $470.30.

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Visa (NYSE: V) was the first company which allowed its merchants to set a minimum charge amount. The company’s website now states, “U.S. retailers may require a minimum purchase amount on credit card transactions. The minimum purchase amount must not exceed $10 and does not apply to transactions made with a debit card.”

American Express (NYSE: AXP)’s merchant manual said that the company’s merchants cannot impose any restrictions on cards that aren’t also placed on other payment methods, but a representative from the company confirmed to The Consumerist that the recent Dodd-Frank act allows merchants to set $10.00 minimums for credit card transactions, but can’t differentiate by issuers or payment networks, meaning that American Express-associates merchants can set a $10.00 minimum, despite the company’s merchant manual.

MasterCard’s merchant guide currently reads, “A Merchant must not require, or indicate that it requires, a minimum or maximum Transaction amount to accept a valid and properly presented Card.” However, the Consumerist also confirmed that MasterCard would be modifying its rules to coincide with the Dodd-Frank act in the near future to allow merchants to set a $10.00 minimum.

It was later confirmed that Discover would also be modifying its rules to allow its merchants to set a $10.00 minimum charge amount.

Merchants are financially incentivized to set higher minimum charge amounts because it encourages consumers to make larger purchases. Merchants also often pay a higher percentage of the first dollar of each transaction than subsequent dollars in the transaction, making smaller transactions less profitable than larger ones.

For example, a merchant may be charged $0.25 for the first dollar and $0.02 per dollar after that. If that merchant made 10 sales at $1.00, they would be charged $2.50 in fees. If the same company made one sale at $10.00, they would only be charged $0.41 in fees.

This article (Visa (NYSE: V), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) Approve $10 Credit Card Minimums) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

Rice, speaking during a conference organized by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in New York, that he is seeing “pockets of growth” and is optimistic that the economy will continue to grow, but said that there were plenty of reasons to be cautious, including unemployment and regulatory uncertainty.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Rice as saying that “there’s a caution that comes from having been through the worst recession in our business career,” He added, “So I think people are naturally a little restrained about how they think about the future.”

He noted that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has the capability to spend $30 billion on acquisitions during the next two to three years, but noted that the number could be lower because “we’re not going to run out and buy something just for the sake of buying it.” He did not discuss any specific companies which General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) might acquire, but said that the company had previously expressed interest in expanding industrial and infrastructure operations.

General Electric Company (GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company. The Company’s products and services include aircraft engines, power generation, water processing, security technology, medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products. The Company serves customers in more than 100 countries. The Company operates through five segments: Energy Infrastructure, Technology Infrastructure, NBC Universal (NBCU), Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial. In March 2009, Teleflex Incorporated completed the sale of its 51% share of Airfoil Technologies International – Singapore Pte. Ltd., to GE. In September 2009, the Company sold its 81% interest in Homeland Protection business to Safran SA. In September 2009, the Company acquired ScanWind. In September 2009, Moog Inc. completed the acquisition of the Company’s GE Aviation Systems’ flight control actuation business. In November 2009, GE Aviation acquired Naverus, Inc.

Shares of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded up 1.60% on Friday, ending the week at $15.39.

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The deferred tax assets, which are the result of certain U.S. tax regulations, made more than 33% of Citigroup’s tangible equity, a measure of a bank’s financial strength. If the bank were to shed its deferred tax assets, its financial situation would look much more league than at its present state, a move that some market analysts have called for. Citigroup has rebuked calls for it to set aside capital reserves for its DTAs saying that the company will earn enough money in future quarters to justify keeping those assets on the books.

Under U.S. accounting rules, Citigroup must be certain that it will earn more than $99 billion in taxable income during the next two decades in order to avoid making provisions for the deferred tax assets. The bank had made annual pre-tax profits of more than $20 billion between 2002 and 2006, but lost $60 billion in 2008 and 2009. Now, analysts question whether or not Citigruop will be able to return to those profitably levels.

Mike Mayo, an analyst for CLSA, has been at the forefront of calling for Citigroup to set-aside reserves for its deferred tax assets. In a recent research note to investors, he wrote,  “Why should auditors, investors, regulators and others rely on Citigroup’s projections . . . to justify the use of their DTAs?”

Mayo was joined by Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She was quoted in a recent financial times article saying that the position Citigroup is taking “defies imagination and logic.” She added, “Instead of talking about making money, what Citi ought to do is to reserve for at least part of the DTAs and reap the benefit of reducing the reserves once it actually makes money.”

Not all analysts are teaming up against Citigroup though. Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove took the side of Citigroup saying that he didn’t believe Citi’s accounts were “out of order due to a misstatement of its DTAs”.

In 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Citigroup’s deferred tax assets and asked the bank to explain its treatment of the assets, but the regulatory agency has not commented on whether or not it continues to pursue the matter.

Shares of Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) traded up 0.77% on Friday, ending the week at $3.91. Over the weekend, shares traded down $0.01 or about 0.26%, during off-hours trading. The bank has a 52-week range of $3.11 to $5.07 and a market cap of $113.3 billion.

This article (Analysts and Citigroup Quarrel over $50 Billion of Deferred Taxes (NYSE: C)) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

The Charlotte-based bank plans to release its earnings results at 7:00 AM Eastern followed by a presentation to investors at 8:30 AM Eastern. The web-cast, along with the associated presentation and other information related to the company’s earnings will be available through Bank of America Investor Relations website.

Shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) traded up 1.66% on Friday ending the week at $13.50. The stock traded down $0.01 over the weekend in after-hours trading. Bank of America has a market cap of $135.46 billion and has a 52 week range of $12.18 to $19.86. The stock has been hammered during the most recent quarter as investors have become concerned about the bank’s reliance on U.S. market as new financial regulations are enacted and as consumers continue to face high unemployment rates.

Bank of America Corporation is a bank holding company, and a financial holding company. The Company is a financial institution, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses, large corporations and governments with a range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Through its banking subsidiaries (the Banks) and various nonbanking subsidiaries throughout the United States and in selected international markets, it provides a range of banking and nonbanking financial services and products through six business segments: Deposits, Global Card Services, Home Loans & Insurance, Global Banking, Global Markets, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), with the remaining operations recorded in All Other. On January 1, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

This article (Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) Set to Announce Q3 Earnings on October 19th) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

Lexmark International, Inc., (Lexmark) is engaged in developing, manufacturing and supplying printing and imaging solutions for offices and homes. Lexmark’s products include laser printers, inkjet printers, multifunction devices, dot matrix printers and associated supplies, services and solutions. Lexmark develops and owns technology for its laser and inkjet products and related solutions. The Company operates in the office products industry. The Company operates in two divisions: the Printing Solutions and Services Division (PSSD) and the Imaging Solutions Division (ISD).

Shares of Lexmark traded up 1.48% hitting $37.77 during mid-day trading on Friday.

This article (Barclays (NYSE: BCS) Cuts Price Target on Lexmark (NYSE: LXK).) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

During the month of August, Lending Club issued $12,021,775 in loans with an average loan amount of $10,000. There were a total of 1,175 loans issued on the site during the month of August with an average interest rate of 12.58%. Interestingly enough, 47.5% of all borrowers on the site came from the states of California, New York, Florida, Texas and New Jersey.

Out of the loans that were taken out, 50% of the loans were reported by borrowers to be used for purposes of debt consolidation. Borrowers often take out fixed-rate Lending Club loans and use the proceeds to pay off higher interest unsecured debt. The company also noted a slight decreased in borrowers that were taking out loans to make a major purchase, finance a small business, or pay off a medical bill.

The company took more than three years to issue its first $100 million worth of loans, but has issued more than $50 million in loans during the last month. The company has had one quarter of loans which has finished its complete payment cycle, which is important because it shows what type of returns that investors may make over a full three year period after default rates.

If you’re not familiar with Lending Club, it’s a peer to peer lending company, which allows members of its website to borrow money from one another. Users that want to borrow money using the website create loan listings on the website and have their credit checked by Lending Club. Other members on the site can choose to help fund a borrower’s loan and earn the interest that the borrower pays on their loan. Lending Club makes its money by charging borrowers an origination fee and charging a 1% fee to investors to manage the loan.

This article (Lending Club Tops $12 Million in Loan Originations in August 2010) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

The company wrote the following note to its customers on its blog, “As you may know, interest rates on deposit accounts at many banks have been declining over the past several months due to poor market conditions. Likewise, the rate on your SmartyPig savings account is being reduced as a result of these same economic conditions. Effective Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010, the interest rate paid on SmartyPig savings accounts with $50,000 or less in aggregate balances will decrease to 1.75% APY (balances of more than $50,000 will remain at .50% APY).”

The company noted that its interest rates remained much higher than that of its competitors and that with the company’s cash back offerings that it still gave consumers “the opportunity to get the most for your money when you use SmartyPig.” SmartyPig boasted that it offers up to a 14% bonus when consumers trade their savings balances for gift cards at certain retailers.

The company added, “We understand that a rate reduction can be unpopular. But we also understand that with many banks introducing creative new fees, low-to-no interest rates on savings, high interest rates on credit card debt and scant rewards for your spending dollars, the SmartyPig savings account beats them all hands down. We all have to tighten our belts during these difficult financial times. We all need to watch our pennies and get back to the basics. Cutting back is a big part of “getting back,” after all, and we thank you for continuing to reach for your goals with us.”

About SmartyPig: SmartyPig is a consumer finance site where you can earn high interest on your savings goals and get cash back when making a purchase with premium retailers and top travel companies, all while never relying on credit cards. Family and friends can also help achieve financial goals by securely contributing to your account via social networks like Facebook. Launched in April 2008, SmartyPig has proven extremely popular with consumers throughout the U.S. and in Australia where it partnered with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) to launch www.smartypig.com.au. To date, SmartyPig customers have opened savings accounts with more than $500 million in U.S. deposits and have reached more than $300 million in savings goals. The system is based on proprietary, patent-pending technology and features the latest in security standards. SmartyPig’s U.S. banking relationship is with BBVA Compass. All funds held on deposit are FDIC insured up to the applicable legal limits. SmartyPig is based in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information on how to get started, please visit http://www.smartypig.com and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/smartypig.

This article (SmartyPig cuts Interest Rates from 2.10% to 1.75%) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVSC) owns and operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino (The Venetian Las Vegas), The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino (The Palazzo) and The Sands Expo and Convention Center (the Sands Expo Center) in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Sands Macao, The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel (The Venetian Macao), the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip (the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, which is managed by Four Seasons Hotels Inc.) and the Plaza Casino (together with the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, the Four Seasons Macao) in the Macau Special Administrative Region (Macau) of the People’s Republic of China. The Company is also creating a master-planned development of integrated resort properties, anchored by The Venetian Macao. In addition, it is developing Marina Bay Sands, an integrated resort in Singapore, and Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (the Sands Bethlehem), an integrated resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Shares of LVS traded up 3.06% hitting $30.99 during mid-day trading on Friday.

This article (Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) Reiterates “Sell” Rating on Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: SVS)) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

ArcSight, Inc. is a provider of enterprise threat and risk management solutions that protect business and government enterprises. The enterprise threat and risk management platform collects, consolidates and correlates network and user activity data across the enterprise so that businesses could detect, diagnose and manage both internal and external threats and risks across the organization for activities associated with assets and processes. With the enterprise threat and risk management platform and products, organizations could use the ArcSight platform to protect their digital assets from cyber-theft, cyber-fraud, cyber-warfare and cyber-episonage. The enterprise threat and risk management platform includes the connector products, which collect event information from security point solutions, network and computing devices, databases, applications and other elements in an organization’s information technology (IT) architecture.

Shares of ARST traded down 1.32% hitting $37.34 during mid-day trading on Friday.

This article (Barclays (NYSE: BCS) Boosts Price Target on Arcsight (NASDAQ: ARST)) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.

Vistaprint N.V. is an online provider of coordinated portfolios of marketing products and services to small businesses globally. The Company offers a range of products and services ranging from printed business cards, brochures and post cards to apparel, invitations and announcements, holiday cards, calendars, creative design services, copywriting services, direct mail services, promotional gifts, signage, Website design and hosting services, and e-mail marketing services. The Company has automated and integrated the design and production process, from design conceptualization to product shipment and service delivery. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 (fiscal 2009), the Company’s customers placed an average of 41,000 orders per day. On December 30, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Soft Sight, Inc.

Shares of VPRT traded up 2.61% hitting $33.83 during mid-day trading on Friday.

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Wynn Resorts, Limited (Wynn Resorts) is a developer, owner and operator of destination casino resorts. It owns and operates two destination casino resorts Wynn Las Vegas, on the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas located adjacent to Wynn Las Vegas, and Wynn Macau, located in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Macau). The Company is also constructing Encore at Wynn Macau, an expansion of its Wynn Macau resort. The Company operates in two segments: Wynn Las Vegas, (which includes Encore at Wynn Las Vegas) and Wynn Macau.

Shares of WYNN traded up 3.71% hitting $87.81 during mid-day trading on Friday.

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Walter Energy, Inc., formerly Walter Industries, Inc., is a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal for the global steel industry and also produces steam coal, coal bed methane gas (natural gas), metallurgical coke and other related products. The Company operates its business through three principal business segments: Underground Mining, Surface Mining and Walter Coke. The Company’s primary business, the mining and exporting of hard coking coal for the steel industry, is included in its Underground Mining segment, consisted of Jim Walter Resources, Inc. (JWR) and Blue Creek Coal Sales, Inc. In its Surface Mining segment, it also mines steam coal for sale to industrial and electric utility markets through its Taft Coal Sales, Tuscaloosa Resources and Walter Minerals subsidiaries. Through its Walter Coke segment, it manufactures furnace and foundry coke, collectively referred to as metallurgical coke. On April 17, 2009, the Company completed the spin-off of its Financing business.

Shares of WLT traded down 2.48% hitting $76.00 during mid-day trading on Friday.

This article (UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) Analysts Give “Buy” Rating to Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT)) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer to peer lending news.