Washington Mutual has announced a new account opening experience that it says couples 100% online approval and opening, and eliminates the need to mail a traditional signature card. Rather than the signature card, the new customer 'uses the first check in their checkbook, which has been specially designed so that once written and processed, it is scanned and used to serve as the sample signature for the account.'   » Continue Reading

In an article title 'Where WaMu went wrong', Seattle Times business reporter Drew DeSilver takes a look at Washington Mutual before its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow in Seattle. He writes: 'Billions of dollars in tarnished debt sit festering on WaMu's books. The stock is down 71 percent over the past year, thousands of employees have been laid off, and just last week WaMu effectively sold half of itself to an investor group at a bargain-basement price.'

Washington Mutual has announced that it 'expects to issue 12-15 million Debit MasterCard with PayPass cards in 2008, making it the nation’s largest issuer (as of Q42007). WaMu launched Debit MasterCard with PayPass nationwide in January, offering the card to new customers opening its signature WaMu Free Checking account, as well as to all WaMu Small Business customers. In March, the bank began issuing Debit MasterCard with PayPass to customers whose debit cards are renewing.'   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual held its 2007 Investor Day today - supporting materials are available online.

Washington Mutual (WaMu) has joined NACHA as a direct financial institution member. According to the most recent NACHA Top 50 list, WaMu is the nation's fifth largest receiving financial institution of ACH payments.   » Continue Reading

Ann Carrns reports for the Wall St. Journal about branch expansion plans being curtailed at Washington Mutual. According to Carrns, the "pace of openings has been scaled back, and it doesn't plan to enter new markets."

Washington Mutual and ESPN have launched the ESPN Total Access Visa Card and they're calling it "the most comprehensive affinity credit card for sports fans ever." The card allows fans to earn rewards tied to their enthusiasm for sports, and "provides unique access to a wide range of sporting events and VIP experiences that only ESPN can provide."   » Continue Reading

Plaintiff law firms Berger & Montague and Lerach Coughlin have announced that a nationwide settlement agreement has been reached in a consolidated federal class action lawsuit about use of certain payment cards for foreign transactions. Defendants in the case include Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Bank One/First USA, Chase, Citibank, Diners Club, HSBC/Household, MBNA and Washington Mutual/Providian. MasterCard this morning has filed an 8-K with the SEC stating it "has agreed to pay $72.48 million, which constitutes its share of defendants' $336 million settlement." As an aside, MasterCard also reported that it had agreed to settle the "Schwartz Matter for $13.44 million, which is expected to be paid in 2007."   » Continue Reading

A new study from VocaLabs looks at the quality of telephone based customer service among five financial services companies -- Washington Mutual, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and PayPal. And the winner is...

Daniel Wolfe writes for the American Banker (subscription required) about PayPal's new PayPal Plus MasterCard issued by GE Consumer Finance.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has introduced a new paperless account opening experience that couples 100% online approval and opening, and eliminates the need to mail a traditional signature card. The signature on the first paper check the consumer writes is scanned by the bank and becomes the sample signature for the account.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual is promoting its new free outgoing wire transfers to LA's Latino community. WaMu says it is "making the process of wiring money more affordable by introducing the new WaMu Free Checking account, which offers free foreign and domestic outgoing wire transfers."   » Continue Reading

The Consumerist is collecting stories from consumers who have recently had their debit cards replaced by their banks - several of which involve Washington Mutual in what appears to be the routine migration of WaMu's debit cards from Visa to MasterCard and not the result of any debit card data compromises.

Washington Mutual has announced it is introducing a new free checking product that "combines an unprecedented bundle of features that all add up to convenience and value never before seen in any checking account." The new WaMu Free Checking account features include free checks for life, free ATM cash withdrawals, and a Gold Debit MasterCard with rewards of $0.03 per purchase transaction (either PIN or signature-based).   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has announced the launch of a new national advertising campaign promoting its free checking account features that leverages consumer perceptions about stodgy bankers to differentiate its offering.   » Continue Reading

American Express announced two major bank credit card issuing partnership deals this week: Bank of America and HSBC.

In both deals the removal of each bank from the list of defendants in the litigation American Express is pursuing (re: damages associated with MasterCard and Visa losing the US antitrust case) may have been an important element.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has announced the launch of the Washington Mutual MasterCard Gift Card. The card costs $3.95 plus a $1.00 first class shipping and handling charge in addition to the value loaded onto the card.   » Continue Reading

[Update: As part of their investor call this morning, Washington Mutual and Providian have made available a presentation (PDF) on the acquisition.]   » Continue Reading

First Data Corp. has announced that it has been selected by Washington Mutual to provide authorization and settlement processing for Washington Mutual's nine million card signature debit portfolio -- extending a previously announced relationship between Washington Mutual and First Data's STAR Network where STAR serves as the preferred brand and network for PIN-secured, online debit point-of-sale, and ATM processing.

That's the headline in tomorrow's Wall St. Journal for a story by Robin Sidel and Joseph Hallinan on the decision announced earlier by Washington Mutual to move its debit card business to MasterCard.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has announced that it will move its principal payment card programs to MasterCard.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual held an Investor Day in New York City yesterday. The presentations are available online.

Washington Mutual has announced that it has received a US patent on its full-service branch bank design.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual announced plans today to launch 250 new "stores" in 2004.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has announced that it will be trialing the sale of $1,000 CD's using an auction process powered by eBay.

During the promotion, approximately 600 six-month CDs of $1,000 each will be made available for bidding during a six-week period, with approximately 100 CDs listed each week. Shoppers will be able to bid on the interest rate of their CDs -- with bidding starting at higher interest rates, and subsequent bids bringing down the interest rate until the auction listing closes. If the final bid meets an undisclosed reserve, the successful bidder is expected to get a competitive interest rate on his or her CD.

To view the WAMU CD auction site, see: http://www.wamucdauction.com.

Kimberly Allers reports on the unique approach that Washington Mutual brings to retail banking.

While banking behemoths like Citigroup and Chase were investing millions to steer customers out of their branches and to faceless ATMs and the Internet during the past several years, Washington Mutual courted customers in underserved urban markets by offering free checking and other wallet-targeted incentives. With its customer-oriented appeal to the mass market and its own version of everyday low pricing, the bank known as WaMu (pronounced "WAH-moo") has earned comparisons to retail giant Wal-Mart.

Bradley Meacham reports on Washington Mutual's plans to open nearly 10 percent more branches nationwide this year.

The Seattle lender plans to open 250 branches, mostly in new markets such as Chicago and Denver, Chief Executive Kerry Killinger said yesterday at a University of Washington Business School Dean's Breakfast.

Washington Mutual announced late last week that it had entered into an agreement with Unisys to capture check images in its financial center stores (branches).

Making this move now positions Washington Mutual to confront such industry issues as:

• escalating unit costs of processing paper checks;
• the shift to electronic transactions such as electronic bill presentation and payment;
• and the impact of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, pending legislation to enhance the efficiency of the check system by allowing digital images in truncation, which can eliminate the need for a paper trail in check processing.