Background Information of AIG Bank

AIG Bank was chartered in May of 2000 and its main branch is located in Wilmington, DE. AIG Bank was formed to service not only consumers and small businesses but also AIG policy holders and employees. AIG Bank offers mortages, home equity lines of credit, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.

AIG Bank has customers nationwide that they service through the internet, phone, mail, as well a select group of financial advisors. AIG Bank offers many applications on line as well as tools and calculators. Their main website is www.aigbank.com. The stock symbol is easy to remember since it is simply AIG..

Banking Products and Services

Mortgages

AIG Bank offer mortgage options for home buyers as well as homeowners. Included in their offerings are 30 and 15 year fixed mortgages, 30 year FHA fixed, 5/1 ARM and a 5/1 Jumbo Arm. According to their website AIG Banks loan officers will keep you informed throughout the process and arrange for appraisal, title search, and inspections.

Home Equity Lines of Credit

AIG Bank offers its customers home equity lines of credit and they also offer a no closing costs option. AIG Bank also does not charge an application fee for a home equity loan or a mortgage. They offer check writing or electronic transfers of funds from your HELOC account to your bank account. To apply for a home equity line of credit you can call a loan specialist or complete an online rate request form.

Money Market Accounts

AIG Bank offers their customers a money market account that is FDIC insured. The rates increase at certain levels of deposit. The first level of account balance runs from $2,500 to $10,000 and the fifth level caps out at $250,000 or more. The best money market account rate of course corresponds to the highest account balance, however; it is important to note that the largest increase in percentage rate is between the first and second level of deposit. AIG Bank offers many options for accessing your funds from your money market accounts including personalized checks, a check card, and free incoming wires for fund transfers just to name a few. Again you can apply for a money market account easily with their online forms or you can also utilize the by mail option.

High Rate CDs

AIG Bank has several options for high rate certificates of deposit. The terms range from 6 months to 60 months. Rates can be locked in for up to 5 years and accounts can be opened online or by mail. The high yield CD accounts are FDIC- insured and interest is credited monthly.

Other Items of Interest

We all know that the banking industry, as a whole, has been hit hard by recent economic changes. AIG has not been immune to this. They do have $132 million in TARP aid to repay in 2013. In addition, a recent deal with Prudential fell through when Prudential drastically reduced their offer to AIG (according to a recent article in International Business Times). The fact that AIG walked away from the deal when the original offer was reduced may actually show that AIG is confident that there are other ways to meet their obligation to US Tax payers. There is talk of an IPO to raise funds but that remains to be seen.

A claim was filed in March of 2010 by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Housing and Civil Enforcement Section believes that they have evidence that brokers who were left to set their own fees charged black borrowers more on average than other borrowers. The policies and procedures are being declared a violation of the Fair Housing Act; although, it really is their lack of set procedures or formulas for their brokers to use to calculate the amount of their direct fees that created the possible problem. It should be noted that while the claim lists the findings as statistically significant they are looking at a huge margin. The disparities being complained about are between ¼ of one percent and ¾ of one percent. In actual dollars on an average $200,000 loan the over charged amount would be between $500 and $1,500. It is also important to note that the Justice Department cannot close AIG they are just looking for AIG to change their policies and to compensate those who were over charged.

Summary of AIG Bank Review

AIG Bank does offer high interest money market accounts and high yield CDs with easy online applications. All these accounts are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per customer. If you are looking for a bank with a strong online focus for their deposit accounts AIG Bank may be just what you are looking for. If you are in the market for an initial mortgage loan, refinance, or home equity line of credit remember that AIG does not charge any application fees. Just make sure you specifically ask what your broker is charging you as a direct fee as well as the yield spread premium fee you are paying. Remember brokers are people too. They are providing a service and should be monetarily compensated but, as a savy consumer you should know how much you are paying.

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