Community Banker Alert

In follow up to the various communications we have sent you regarding the battle against Wal-Mart, Home Depot and the other commercial conglomerates that want to breach the separation of banking & commerce and enter retail banking, I am writing every Pennsylvania community banker to urge you to contact Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators to urge them to co-sponsor S. 1356. In particular, we are targeting Senator Bob Casey because he is a member of the Senate Banking Committee and has a good understanding of our issues and a strong relationship with us in the past.

The House has overwhelmingly passed its version of legislation to close the Industrial Loan Corporation (ILC) loophole and PACB, with your key assistance, was successful in persuading 10 of our 19 members of our Congressional Delegation to co-sponsor H.R. 698.

We are running out of time, however. The ILC moratorium imposed by the FDIC expires January 31, 2008 and the FDIC has made it clear they will not extend this date. That means we must convince the Congress to pass legislation before then to close the ILC loophole and the battleground is in the Senate where Utah Senator Robert Bennett is fighting to preserve the ILC loophole. We must convince Senator Casey and Senator Specter to co-sponsor S. 1356 and the way we do that is to flood them with contacts.

Your message need not be complex. Call, fax or email them and ask them to co-sponsor S. 1356 and ask every one of your officers, employees, and directors to do the same. That’s how important this battle is. Wal-Mart, in a move to bypass this issue until they can get their ILC charter, has announced it plans to open 1,000 money centers including the launching of the Wal-Mart Money Card which Wal-Mart in a press release notes “is a reliable prepaid VISA card issued by GE Money Bank with … all funds loaded onto the card are FDIC-insured.”

Casey’s Contact Information:
Casey’s D.C. Office – FAX -- (202) 228-0604
Casey’s D.C. Phone # -- (202)224-6324
Casey’s Web Contact Form – casey.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Specter’s Contact Information:
Specter’s D.C. Office – FAX -- (202) 228-0608
Specter’s D.C. Phone # -- (202)224-4254
Specter’s Web Contact Form – specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home

If you need any assistance with these contacts, please call Dave Transue. Thanks for your immediate attention to this critical issue to our industry.