In a press release, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (as it calls itself in this missive) touts that Auto Finance News ranked ML as number one in the online customer satisfaction survey.
BoA/ML writes in the release:
“Part of the bank's Dealer Financial Services unit, eLending is a direct-to-consumer online lending channel that provides customers with information and resources for buying or refinancing an auto, RV or boat. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one of the largest bank providers of commercial and retail financing for auto, RV and boat dealers and consumers in the U.S., with more than 10,000 dealer clients and nearly $50 billion in consumer and commercial loans.”
Let’s hope the $50bn in retail and business loans get repaid! Actually, with interest rates almost certainly to rise in 2010, banks such as BoA stand to make lots more money on loans. In a filing BoA, which paid back its $45bn TARP preferred stock, estimates that a one-basis-point jump would gross it $402 million more in income from interest payments. That said, through Q3 of 2009, BoA added $13bn to its loan loss reserves since 2008. Loan loss reserves for consumer and small business lending amounted to around $500m in Q3.