Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • October 5, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS BANKING & FINANCE Ex-Im Bank freeze creates trade barriers for CT firms By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com C ongress's failure to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank is affecting more Connecticut companies than just General Elec - tric, according to a trade official in the state. Uncertainty has been cast over export financing and insurance for other in-state firms as well, forcing some to consider alternative options. The bank, known as EX-IM, is not process- ing new applications or engaging in new business since its charter expired at midnight June 30. Its services include loans to foreign companies buying American exports, export-credit insurance against foreign companies' failure to pay, and loan guarantees for U.S. banks providing working capital to exporters to meet foreign orders. The bank continues to service existing loans and policies in place before July 1, so some Connecticut companies aren't feeling a pinch yet. But the bank's freeze on new business has compli- cated a couple multimillion-dollar deals for Walling- ford-based APS Technology Inc., which manufactures measurement while drilling (MWD) technology that communicates to crude oil exploration companies exactly what direction they are drilling in and what kind of substances are around the drilling bits. The deals — one involving a former Soviet country, another with a large national oil company in the Ameri- cas — had received preliminary approval for EX-IM financing, said Paul Seaton, vice president of marketing. The export sales could be prejudiced by the lack of EX-IM support, he said, noting that the financing environment now is more challenging with the oil industry downturn. "In the good days, when we were flying high, we could finance a smaller purchase," Seaton said. "But we'd rather be doing that at the moment with the help of EX-IM." That leaves APS trying to figure out some other methodology for the foreign sales. If APS can successfully introduce its equipment to the large national oil company, the potential for future business could be enormous, he said. Trickle effect GE cast a spotlight on EX-Im Bank's status recently when it said it planned to move about 500 U.S. jobs over- seas as a result of the bank no longer processing new applications. GE said it's bidding on $11 billion in projects that require export financing. GE customers often require guaranteed financing from an export credit agency in order to submit a bid, but with no U.S. export financing available, GE must pursue non-U.S. options, it said in a statement. Many export-credit agencies have requirements similar to the Export-Import Bank's — that production and jobs must be invested in-country to qualify for financing. This will result in the loss of thousands of U.S. jobs — both at GE and at its suppliers, GE said. "Most other countries have [entities similar to] EX-IM Bank and it makes it difficult for U.S. companies to compete when we don't have the same tools other countries have," said Anne Evans, district director of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Connecticut. Q&A B of A's latest mobile offering: fingerprint sign-in Q&A talks about mobile technology at Bank of America with Kevin Cunningham, credit executive, Northeast region and Canada, and Connecticut state president, Bank of America. Q: Bank of America has followed the lead of Apple and instituted fingerprint sign-in for mobile banking. Why take this step? Is it something people will use or do they just appreciate the tech- nology being available? A: We are con- stantly evaluating emerging technolo- gies to help meet our customers' chang- ing needs. Our more than 18 million active mobile users tell us they want more seam- less, secure options to manage their finances on the go. The intro- duction of Fingerprint (Android) and Touch ID (iOS) sign-in is just another example of how we're helping those mobile custom- ers bank where, when and how they want. Q: Your bank has 31 million digital customers. What percentage of that do you expect to adopt fin- gerprint banking? How secure and/or reliable is fingerprint banking? A: About 18 million of our digital customers use our mobile banking app, and the Fingerprint and Touch ID sign-in is available to those customers who access the app from their eligible Android, iPhone and iPad devices. Custom- er response has been very positive and we are seeing increasing num- bers of customers sign-in using these features. Security is always a top priority, and we built the technology supporting fingerprint sign-in according to FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) standards. These standards strengthen authentica- tion, and it's also reassuring to note that our customer's biometric data never leaves their device. Q: Are enhancements like this more targeted towards per- sonal banking? How do apps for small business banking differ? A: Many of the recent enhance- ments also apply to our small busi- ness clients. Our small business digital experience allows owners to grant customized access to employees and/or accountants. Each of those users could have access to fingerprint authentica- tion. In addition, we offer several small business online/mobile services that enable our clients to operate more efficiently. These services include remote check deposit, the ability to take credit/ debit cards via a mobile device, payroll, invoicing, and integration with accounting software. Q: Mobile banking at Bank of America is growing at a rate of more than 5,000 users per day, according to your figures. What does this mean for brick-and- mortar banks? Does this growth indi- cate more branches being shuttered in the near future? A: Our financial centers continue to be an important channel, especially for more complex banking transactions, such as mortgages and auto loans, or when cus- tomers are seeking financial advice. Customers can make an appoint- ment to meet with a specialist in one of our financial cen- ters, including same day in many locations. In addition, soon customers will be able to click from inside the mobile banking app to be connected directly to the proper associate to meet their needs. We'll continue to provide services through multiple channels — online, branch, mobile, phone, ATMs — to meet our cus- tomers' banking needs. Q: Research shows 73 per- cent of Millennials would be more excited about a new financial services offering from Google, Amazon, Apple, Square or PayPal than their own financial institution. Why not let others develop the mobile banking that consum- ers seem to want? A: We know how influential the Millennial generation will be to the future of banking. In fact, in the most recent Bank of Amer- ica Trends in Consumer Mobility Report, we found that Millennials are the highest adopters of mobile banking apps out of any generation. They are also the most frequent users of mobile banking, with nearly one-quarter of Millennials access- ing their app once a day or more. We work closely with them to better understand their financial needs so we can deliver tools that provide them increased control. We also work with many tech- nology companies to integrate their innovative services into our digital offerings, such as the introduction of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. n KEVIN CUNNINGHAM Credit executive, Northeast region and Canada, and Connecticut state president, Bank of America 2014-15 EX-IM Bank Supported Export Activity in CT Exporter City Product Total Insured Shipments, Guaranteed Credit or Disbursed Loan Amount Total Export Value Sikorsky Aircraft Stratford Transportation equipment manufacturing and sales $276,171,023 $376,244,340 Fuelcell Energy Inc. Danbury Heavy and civil works construction $3,600,000 $80,000,000 Stanadyne Corp. Windsor Motor vehicle and parts manufacturing and sales $9,000,000 $70,000,000 Galata Chemicals LLC Southbury Chemical manufacturing and sales $15,750,000 $55,500,000 General Electric International Operations Company Inc. Shelton Manufacturing and sales of non-capital equipment $32,427,694 $34,794,308 Bauer Inc. Bristol Transportation equipment manufacturing and sales $3,605,147 $22,005,900 Neeltran Inc. New Milford Computer and electronic product manufacturing $4,230,000 $20,000,000 Coburn Technologies Inc. South Windsor Machinery manufacturing and sales $4,500,000 $18,000,000 Louis Dreyfus Corp. Wilton Banking and finance $16,923,753 $16,923,753 Ia Nutrition Inc. Bloomfield Chemical manufacturing and sales $5,400,000 $15,000,000 S O U R C E : E X - I M B A N K APS Technology, which makes drilling parts with its Integrex machine (show left), has relied on EX-IM Bank to finance some its foreign deals. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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