Mr. Cooper: TCF was founded in 1923, its roots were originally in the thrift business. Three guys put in 100 apiece and never raised any more capital until we took it public in 1986. We converted it to a stock company in the 1980s, and then to a commercial bank in the 1990s. We're currently about 12 billion. TCF is primarily a retail bank. We're a little different than most banks in that our customer focus is more the middle class down. We have a vast number of customers for a bank our size; for instance, we have 1,200,000 checking accounts and the fourth largest supermarket banking system in America. We also have the 16th largest number of debit cards, even though we're the 48th largest bank. And myself, I've been with TCF since 1985. I am a commercial banker by background.
TWST: What's the competitive landscape?
Mr. Cooper: The biggest issue, I think, in the banking industry today is
the mergers and acquisitions that are going on. TCF hasn't done a merger
in a number of years. Most of our growth has been de novo; over half of
our branches have been opened brand new in the last three years, which
is unique in the banking business. The mergers that have gone on with
Bank One, US Bank and Firstar and Wells Fargo, etc., have really kind of
mixed the competitive market, with those banks focusing on consolidating
their mergers and doing their cost take-outs. TCF is one of the only
banks that's expanding de novo.
Tickers included in this excerpt: TCB
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