Bank Profitability Quotes

I have always said that a bank's lending rates do not only depend on rate cuts - it is just one signal.

Over time, low rates can put pressure on the business models of financial institutions.

You cannot take bank interest rates very sharply down: you will lose your deposit franchise.

Negative interest rates hurt banks' balance sheets, with the 'wealth effect' on banks overwhelming the small increase in incentives to lend.

Higher capital requirements increase bank costs, and at least some of those costs will be passed along to bank customers and shareholders. But in the longer term, stronger prudential requirements for large banking firms will produce more sustainable credit availability and economic growth.

We need the banks to be attractive to investors again.

Credit cards have been extremely profitable to banks. They're profitable not from the fees they collect from the retailers that use the credit cards, that pays the bills, but the real profits come from the interest payments and the charges to users that are unexpected.

The minute a Wall Street firm purchases your debt, your bank no longer has it on its financial statement, which then allows the bank to look for more credit card customers. That's one reason why you get so many credit card offers.

The market can play a crucial role in disciplining the banking system, but this requires reliable information about banks' financial condition.