Closures in Nebraska, Florida, Illinois and Oregon bring the number of bank failures to 13 this year as the financial crisis continues to roll.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Four banks folded Friday, bringing the total number of banks to fail this year to 13.

Deposits at Sherman County Bank, based in Loup City, Neb., the first bank in the state to fail since 1990, will be taken over by Heritage Bank, based in Wood River, Neb., according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Meanwhile, accounts held by Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast based in Cape Coral, Fla., will be assumed by TIB Bank based in Naples, Fla., the FDIC said. It is the second bank to fail in Florida this year and the fourth to go under in that state since the economic crisis unfurled.

Corn Belt Bank and Trust Company, based in Pittsfield, Ill., the third bank to fail in the state since January 2008, was also shuttered by state regulators, and its deposits were turned over to The Carlinville National Bank out of Carlinville, Ill.

Pinnacle Bank, Beaverton, Oregon, was closed by the Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities. The FDIC entered into an agreement with Washington Trust Bank, Spokane, Washington, to assume all of the deposits of Pinnacle Bank.

Customers who banked with Sherman County Bank, Riverside, Corn Belt Bank, or Pinnacle Bank will automatically become customers of the new owners, and will retain their account protection under the FDIC, which insures single accounts up to $250,000, and joint accounts up to $500,000, the government agency said.

Due to the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, Sherman County Bank’s four branches, Riverside’s nine branches, and Corn Belt Bank’s two, will reopen on Tuesday as branches of the new deposit holders, the agency said.

Over the three-day weekend, those customers will be able to use checks, ATMs and debit cards as normal. Customers who have taken out loans from a failed bank should continue to make regular payments, the FDIC said.

Sherman County Bank held assets worth about $129.8 million, and held deposits worth about $85.1 million, as of Feb. 12, the FDIC said. Heritage Bank has agreed to purchase about $21.8 million of Sherman County Bank’s assets.

Riverside Bank held assets worth about $539 million, and held deposits worth about $424 million, as of December last year, the FDIC said. TIB Bank will not assume $142.6 million worth of brokered deposits held by Riverside Bank, but agreed to buy $125 million of Riverside’s assets.

Corn Belt Bank carried assets worth about $271.8 million, with deposits of $234.4 million, according to the agency. Carlinville National will not take on $92 million of Corn Belt’s brokered deposits, but would buy $60.7 million of Corn Belt’s assets, the FDIC said.

Pinnacle Bank had total assets of approximately $73 million and total deposits of $64 million. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, including those from brokers, Washington Trust Bank agreed to purchase approximately $72 million in assets at a discount of $7.6 million, the FDIC announced late Friday.

Altogether, the bank failures announced Friday will cost the FDIC about $341.6 million.

The unfolding financial crisis continues to take a toll on banks. If banks continue to fail at a rate of at least one per week, on average, then 2009 could see twice as many failures as in 2008. Last year, 25 banks were closed nationwide, which was the highest annual total since 1993, when 42 banks went under.

Economists expect the number of failed banks to continue rising this year, as the financial crisis plays out and the economic outlook remains dark.

BANK customers will be stung by up to $200 million a year in extra ATM fees.

This comes after four of the five major banks admitted they will charge customers for using rival companies’ ATMs.

The move comes despite warnings from the Reserve Bank, which said banks would have no case for levying the fees after the new rules took effect.

The decision means bank customers will be stung for two sets of fees every time they use a rival cash machine - once from the ATM owner and again by their own bank.

In addition, from March 3, customers will be charged separately for balance inquiries and cash withdrawals.

That means that if the customer checks their balance first and then elects to withdraw cash, they will be charged for both transactions and hit with fees totalling up to $5 for a single visit to the ATM.

Consumer group CHOICE branded the practice disgraceful and has calculated that the additional fees will total $200 million - assuming all four banks follow the lead set by National Australia Bank last month, and charge 50 cents for every “foreign” transaction.

That will take the typical cost of viewing your balance or withdrawing cash at a foreign ATM to $2.50 - payable twice if you do both.

“The system will punish people who are prudent and check their balance before withdrawing money so that they do not incur penalty fees,” said Elissa Freeman from CHOICE.

Westpac, St George and ANZ all said they would definitely levy a foreign usage fee, following on from NAB’s decision.

The Commonwealth Bank said that it was still considering its position.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), the second largest public-sector bank with more than 4,600 branch offices in India, has set a benchmark with the implementation of Core Banking Solution (CBS). The bank has completed the task ahead of the timeframe that was initially set at March 31, 2009.

“PNB has become 100 percent core banking system. If a customer puts Rs.100 in any of the branches, it will be posted on the servers in Delhi. It would not have been possible to implement such a robust solution without our technology partners,” said RIS Sidhu, chief general manager-IT, PNB.

PNB has implemented Finacle Core Banking Solution from Infosys across all its banking operations, and a scalable database platform from Oracle together with Sun SPARC enterprise servers from Sun Microsystems. The bank has more than 22,000 concurrent users on Finacle technology platform. The solution facilitated the bank to become one of the leading banks in the world as its daily transactions vary from 3 million to 5 million.

“We are the first public-sector bank to adopt core banking throughout all the branches in urban and rural India. The branches will be controlled through the servers in Delhi and data would be transmitted through routers and switches. We have set a network of local and zonal centers so that data can travel efficiently,” said Sidhu.

With the integration of delivery channels, including ATMs and internet banking, PNB is now able to offer 24×7 transaction service to its customers at a reduced cost. Sun Microsystems has established business continuity platform with disaster recover site and alternative datacenter.

“We chose Finacle from Infosys, and our entire technology is based on Sun hardware. Our customers are no longer related to a specific branch. They can do banking 24×7 anywhere, anytime,” he said.According to Sidhu, Oracle is supporting PNB for nearly 20 years and the bank is comfortable with it. “Its database is facilitating our transactions, and we get scalable and reliable platform. Finacle application handles all our business segments, and soon we’ll come up with mobile alerts,” he said.

With the implementation of Finacle Core Banking Solution, PNB is said to reduce operational cost and improve productivity of branches. In addition, Sun SPARC enterprise M series Chip Multi-Treading (CMT) systems on Solaris Operating System deliver scalability to the bank’s architecture and caters to the needs of all its branches.

New York: Lehman Brothers, the banking major which collapsed into bankruptcy under huge obligations, has surprisingly become the hottest place for the job seekers on the Wall Street, with the firm recruiting back as many as 200 employees and still looking for more, a media report says.

Lehman, left with seven billion dollar in cash and more than 1,400 private investments valued at 12.3 billion dollar after the sale of many of its businesses to Barclays PLC and Nomura Holdings Inc, has become attractive for those looking for jobs amid the massive layoffs being announced by other financial services majors.

Alvarez & Marsal, a New York-based restructuring firm, appointed by the collapsed 158-year old investment bank’s board to administer the bankrupt company’s estate, had kept 30 Lehman employees on the firm’s payroll.

In an interview to the Wall Street Journal, Lehman Brothers Holdings Chief Executive Officer Bryan Marsal said, “It has also recruited back more than 200 former Lehman employees, and is still hiring staff to handle targeted areas such as derivatives and real-estate holdings”.

The report by the Wall Street Journal stated that the wages at Lehman are not that great by past standards, but there are hidden benefits as it could take two years or more to wind down the firm and such a timeline promises the kind of job security that is a rarity on Wall Street today.

Besides, the company has also allowed its former Chairman and CEO Richard Fuld, who was removed from the payroll on the first day of the new year, to keep an office at the firm.

“We asked him to stay if he has nowhere better to go,” said Marsal, who is also co-founder of Alvarez & Marsal, on the decision to hold back the former chief executive. “He’s been very good about making himself available for questions about Lehman assets,” he added.

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today announced a flat eight per cent interest rate for a period of one year on new home loans, ahead of bankers ‘ meet with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who holds the portfolio of finance ministry as well, on Monday.

SBI said in a release that the interest rate would be frozen at eight per cent for one year. After the freeze period, it would be reset to the rate as originally applicable under respective schemes.

The new scheme of eight per cent interest rate will be offered for loans availed between February 2 and April 30, 2009, it added.

Existing customers can also avail this offer under a new scheme –SBI Lifestyle Loan. However, for existing accounts this facility would be available to the extent of 10 per cent of home loans or up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh only, SBI said.

Borrowers under two schemes– loans up to Rs 5 lakh and in the bracket Rs 5-20-lakh — would also be given loans at eight per cent for a period of one year, it said, adding that after one year originally contracted rate will be applicable.

For SME borrowers, SBI has introduced a new package under which an additional working capital facility of 20 per cent of the fund-based limits will extended at eight per cent rate to take care of inventories of raw materials, finished goods and delayed payments from buyers in the current downturn. This will also have a freeze period of one year.

Besides, under SME Help term loans will be offered eight per cent for the first year to purchase fixed assets like generator sets.

The move assumes significance as bankers are scheduled to meet Mukherjee on Monday and the issue of reducing interest rate is likely to figure prominently.

New research from uSwitch.com has revealed that one-third of UK savings accounts offer an interest rate of 0.5% or below.

The return is equivalent to 12p a month or £1.41 over a year, on an average savings balance of £2,813.

The price comparison website’s personal finance manager, Louise Bond, comments that base rate decreases represent a double edged sword for consumers.

While mortgage borrowers on tracker rates have benefited from recent aggressive cuts in the base rate, savers have been penalised.

No improvement is expected in the early part of this year because the Bank of England is likely to cut the base rate again, in efforts to support the UK’s failing economy.

According to uSwitch, attractive savings rates are still available, with 3.6% offered on Alliance & Leicester’s eSaver account and 3.55% available at online bank, ICICI Hisave.

Meanwhile, the recession would appear to have frightened Britons into saving more.

Latest figures from the British Bankers’ Association show a £4 billion rise in savings deposits, in December.

However, inflation currently stands at 3.1% meaning that rates on many savings accounts are insufficient to maintain the value of the cash they contain.

Despite the rush to save, Britons seem to be well aware of this because the Association of British Insurers’ recent Savings and Protection survey found that 73% of respondents agreed the benefits of saving have diminished over the past 12 months.

Indbank Merchant Banking Services Limited (Indbank) has launched Indbankonline Stock Trading Point, and opened a new branch office at Pune.

The online stock trading point, a cyber based stock trading facility was inaugurated by A Subramanian, chairman, Indbank Merchant Banking Services Ltd. and P.N. Patel, executive director, Indian Bank last week.

Subramanian said that the bank would establish stock broking terminals at select centers for increasing its reach and operations further. In this endeavour, we have established 15 exclusive CTCL stock trading terminals at Parrys, Anna Nagar, CMDA,’ Madipakkam, West Mambalam in Chennai, Vile Parle, CBD Belapur, Ulhas Nagar in Mumbai, SG Road in Ahmedabad, Poliachi, Ram Nagar, Tirupur in Coimbatore, Nagercoil in Tirunelveli, Karaikudi, Dindugal in Madurai. We have plans to establish around 200 CTCL terminals in select cities across India, in a phased manner.

He said that to avail the service, a customer need to just open an online trading account with Indbank, and the bank will provide computer and Internet facility at its office to trade online at no extra cost. This would benefit investors who want to trade in stock markets online but have constraints on computers and Internet facility at their home.

After years of layoffs and losses, one time telecom giant may be near rock bottom.

Telecom equipment vendor Nortel Networks has filed for bankruptcy protection after reportedly missing a $107 million interest payment that was due today.

Trading in shares of the Canadian-based Nortel (NYSE/TSX: NT), which is listed on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, was halted following Nortel’s announcement today.

Nortel is seeking protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as well as the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (”CCAA”) in Canada. The filing caps years of continuing losses as the embattled telecom vendor struggled to manage debt and emerge from an accounting scandal in recent years. According to a report in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, Nortel was due to pay a $107 million dollar interest payment today.

Nortel pledged to continue day-to-day operations while restructuring its business under bankruptcy protection. In a statement, it said the global financial crisis and recession compounded its existing financial challenges and directly impacted its ability to complete a restructuring that began in 2005. The company said it is taking this action now, with a $2.4 billion (unaudited) cash position, to preserve its liquidity and fund operations during the restructuring process.

“These actions are imperative so that Nortel can build on its core strengths and become the highly focused and financially sound leader in the communications industry that its people, technology and customer relationships show it ought to be,” said Mike Zafirovski, Nortel’s president and CEO, in a statement.

Zafirovski joined Nortel as part of its 2005 restructuring.

In addition to rebuilding its core business after the dot-com bubble burst in early 2000, Nortel also was struggling to put an accounting scandal behind it in recent years.

The current global recession hit Nortel hard. For the third quarter of 2008, the company reported a loss of $3.4 billion as well as the loss of its CTO John Roese.

Despite the troubled financial status of the company, Nortel has been pushing forward on some technology fronts. It rolled out new IPTV video technology at the end of 2008 to help capture part of that growing market.

Nortel’s Metro Ethernet business has also been active, recently announcing a new milestone for 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE)technology. Nortel claims that it can t it can run 100 GbE over a single optical wavelength which is different than what competitors are able to do. That said, Nortel already has publicly noted that it was considering selling off its Metro Ethernet business unit.

The bankruptcy filing for Nortel is perhaps the darkest chapter in the 100-plus year history of the company whose roots spring close to the birth of the telephone itself. Nortel was founded in 1895 in Canada as the Northern Electric and Manufacturing, barely 20 years after the telephone itself was first invented in 1874.

A World Bank statement yesterday has blacklisted three IT firms, including Wipro and Satyam. The statement was posted on the bank’s official website.

According to the statement, Satyam has been banned for a period of eight years for ‘providing improper benefits to bank staff and failing to maintain documentation to support fees charged for its subcontractors’; Wipro for four years, for ‘providing improper benefits to bank staff’; and US-based Megasoft Consultants for four years, for ‘participating in a joint venture with Bank staff while also conducting business with the bank.’

It might be recalled that Satyam had been defiant in December when the World Bank had first announced that it was blacklisting the IT major.

Mumbai, Sep 02, 2008 1525 hrs IST

Thousand of HDFC customers criticize netbanking services of hdfc bank because many retail and enterprise customers of the bank could not carry out transactions, or operate ATMs due to a technical snag.

The technical snag that started little hours today were not rectified till 3.15 pm, as published the story.

“HDFC Bank’s IT systems, and netbanking interface was down. I have been trying to online railway reservation and have had a hard time as the system was down and got the message from Indian Railway about the HDFC system transaction failure.” Reported by Vishal Gupta (IT Professional) A/C holder of HDFC bank.

The bank posted a message on its website informing people about system inoperation between 4 am and 10.30 am. The website later reported that the system will continue to be unavailable till 2 pm. The bank subsequently extended this to 7 pm.

Neeraj Jha, corporate communications, HDFC Bank said, “We agree it is causing inconvenience to customers. We are working on it and expect the systems to be up by 3.00 pm.”

Generally, banks doing the maintenance work during the night so that customers do not face any inconvenience but it was not really maintenance; it is a technical snag actually. We have tried to ask about the nature of the technical snag, but Mr. Jha and HDFC’s head of technology, Anil Jaggia refused to comment.