Money Talk: CEO expectations for the economy worsen

Editor’s note: Each Monday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Money Talk,” a wrap-up of banking and financial news.

CEO EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY WORSEN: For the third quarter in a row, CEOs expressed growing caution about the U.S. economy’s near-term prospects and indicated they are moderating their plans for capital investment over the next six months, according to the Business Roundtable fourth quarter 2015 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

The Index – a composite of CEO projections for sales and plans for capital spending and hiring over the next six months – declined 6.6 points, from 74.1 in the third quarter of 2015 to 67.5 in the fourth quarter. This third consecutive quarterly decline brought the Index to its lowest level in three years. For the first six months of 2016, CEO expectations for sales decreased by 3.2 points and their plans for capital expenditures decreased by 16.7 points. Hiring plans were essentially unchanged from last quarter when they declined by nearly 8 points.

FEDERAL RESERVE ANNOUNCES OFFICERS FOR 12 REGIONAL GOVERNING BANKS: The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the designation of the chairs and deputy chairs of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks for 2016. Each Reserve Bank has a nine-member board of directors. The Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., appoints three of these directors and each year designates one of its appointees as chair and a second as deputy chair. To see the names of the chairs and deputy chairs designated by the Board for 2016, click here.

NUMBER OF CREDIT CARDS AT HIGHEST LEVEL POST-RECESSION: The number of credit card accounts increased steadily in the second quarter of 2015 as consumer spending continued to revitalize the U.S. economy. New accounts across all risk categories grew 16% over the same period a year ago, according to the American Bankers Association’s latest Credit Card Market Monitor.

The December 2015 Monitor, reflecting data from this year’s second quarter, found that the total number of credit card accounts increased to 318 million — the highest reading since late 2008. While account volume growth has been driven by prime and super-prime accounts, the number of subprime accounts has steadily increased since bottoming out in 2013. Meanwhile, among accounts opened in the last 24 months, subprime accounts increased 32% compared to the same period a year ago.

BANK OF AMERICA, CHASE AND CITIBANK VULNERABLE TO LOSING ‘AT-RISK’ CUSTOMERS, REVENUE: A new study finds 23% of current customers at the nation’s 10 largest banks are looking to switch and it identified top frustrations among at-risk customers. Of those who recently switched, their chief gripes include banks failing to keep promises, being “nickeled and dimed,” limited or inconvenient branch locations, lack of competitive rates, mistakes on statements, poor customer service and burdensome fees. These frustrations translate to a projected loss of $86 billion in deposits and $4 billion in revenue over the next 12 months, according to New York-based financial consulting firm cg42. This year’s study is an update to cg42’s previous studies of retail banking in 2013 and 2011.