Corporate Site News Items

S&P Praises Fleet’s Home Equity Loan Process

The incredible shrinking Home Equity loan rates have created huge volumes for Fleet’s Credit Process & Operations Teams, with rate requests currently averaging one per minute. According to Standard & Poor’s (S&P), however, Fleet is up to the challenge. S&P, a leading credit rating service, recently ranked Fleet’s Home Equity operation process as “Above Average.” In their analysis, S&P cited Fleet’s “seasoned management team, risk management controls, and default management controls,” and consider Fleet to be a highly competitive servicer. “We are delighted to receive this rating,” said Deborah Bennett, director of Credit Process & Operations. “Our employees work hard every day to improve our customers’ experience, and the fact that we can achieve this honor in the midst of record-breaking loan volumes is a tribute to their dedication.”

Building Communities: Flee Supports Foster / Adoptive Families

The FleetBoston Financial Foundation recently awarded a $50,000 grant to The Treehouse Foundation, a non-profit corporation created to enhance the well-being of foster/adoptive children in Massachusetts. The grant will be used to support the planning and development of White Brook Meadow, a 46-acre planned community of foster and adoptive families and senior citizens in Easthampton, Massachusetts. White Brook Meadow is a collaborative effort between The Treehouse Foundation, the Massachusetts Department of social Services, Beacon Companies, the City of Easthampton, and the City’s public school system. The planned community will provide a secure, nurturing and supportive environment for abused or neglected children in foster care who will be adopted by their foster families. “On behalf of the board of directors of The Treehouse Foundation, I would like to express our profound appreciation to the FleetBoston Foundation,” said Joe Wheeler, managing director, Customer Experience. “Both this grant, and the support of Gail Snowden and her incredible team, have been instrumental in helping us move one step closer to creating a fundamentally new model for foster and adoptive care.” On-site staff will include an administrator, social worker, and therapist.

Brad Warner: “A Spectacular Year for PFS”

Calling 2003 “a spectacular year for PFS,” Brad Warner, head of Personal Financial Services (PFS), praised PFS team members at a recent town meeting in Waltham, Massachusetts. Brad updated the members on the Bank of America transaction, and thanked them for their hard work and remarkable business results. Key PFS highlights in 2003 included customer favorability gains across all markets, with Fleet growing to become the second largest home equity lender in the nation; improved core deposits that reached record levels, and more than a billion dollars in net income generated for the year. “I couldn’t have asked for a better year. We hit all of our revenue and product penetration goals, surpassed our expense goal, and we did it with fewer people,” said Brad. “It’s an amazing accomplishment and I want to thank each and every one of you for helping to make it happen.” Roy Lever, director of Delivery Support, Nandita Bakhshi, director of Product and Profitability Management, and Larry Mariasis, director of Telephone Banking, joined Brad to discuss the Bank of America merger.