Statistics, Facts & Such

Half of all Federal payments are now being made electronically.

There were 1,226 bank managed equity funds by the end of the first quarter of 1997, with assets of $149.3 billion.

The top three states for Visa Fraud in 1996 were California which reported 20% of the losses, New York had 11%, and Florida had 9%.

A recent survey by the computer industry revealed that 51% of financial services employees engage in the unauthorized use of computers. Only the manufacturing industry with 57% and the federal government with 53% of their employees abusing computers ranked higher.

The Hudson Valley Business Journal in January reported over 500 million corporate checks are fraudulently negotiated each year, resulting in losses exceeding $10 billion.

According to Visa U.S.A., Inc. , 18% of stolen Visa or MasterCard thefts involve cards taken from the glove compartments of parked vehicles. Another 17% are stolen at work- from a jacket, purse, or unsecured desk.

In 1992, 52% of women-owned firms used credit cards as a source of financing. By 1996 only 23 % did. The other 77% of women entrepreneurs now use business earnings to finance their firms.

Mexico is auctioning off $43.9 billion worth of mortgages, corporate loans, commercial paper and real estate in an attempt to ease the financial pressure on the Mexican Treasury-a tactic similar to the one used by the Resolution Trust Corporation in the US ten years ago.

Copyright © 1997 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 7, No. 6, 5/97