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NEW YORK — Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says he's "incensed" by public criticism of his company and is pushing back by reminding local leaders of its contributions to their economies.
Moynihan, 52, told employees in a global town hall meeting last week from the firm's Charlotte, N.C., headquarters that the "place to win the battle" over the bank's battered public image was at the state and municipal level.
Bank of America's outreach campaign is part of Moynihan's effort to turn around the lender since he took over as CEO in January 2010 following two taxpayer bailouts. His plan to charge some debit-card users a $5 monthly fee drew reprimands from President Obama and lawmakers, including Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who said customers should withdraw their deposits in protest.
"I, like you, get a little incensed when you think about how much good all of you do, whether it's volunteer hours, charitable giving we do, serving clients and customers well," Moynihan said during the Oct. 18 gathering. To the bank's critics, he said, "You ought to think a little about that before you start yelling at us."
Moynihan is laboring to rebuild the bank's reputation with customers, employees and investors. Even before the debit-card fee sparked protests in Los Angeles and Boston, state attorneys general blamed the bank for using improper documents to justify foreclosures. To help reverse a stock decline this year of more than 50 percent, the lender is cutting expenses by eliminating more than 30,000 jobs.
The firm's 135 market presidents have made about 1,500 phone calls and visits to local officials and community leaders across the country in two weeks, Anne Finucane, global head of strategy and marketing, said at the meeting. The effort begins with a letter explaining how much the bank lends to area businesses and the employees it has in the region, she said.
The company is trying to improve its standing with local officials and small firms because "research shows us that's a more important indicator of reputation," Finucane told employees. The firm has bought print advertising in 27 markets and television ads in 15 markets, she said.
Bank of America's deposit-taking unit has the greatest concentration of locations in the most populous states, with 980 in California, 651 in Florida, 459 in Texas and 398 in New York, according to data on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.' s website. Minnesota, Utah and Colorado each have just one branch, the FDIC data show.
"We are seeking to re-engage in a very straightforward manner on the issues people care about most, which is, 'Are we lending and investing, and how much of it are we doing in that community?' " Finucane, 59, said in an interview. "We're working to answer that question on a local basis."
The campaign makes sense as part of a larger effort to improve relations with regulators and investors, said Michael Robinson, a senior vice president of Levick Strategic Communications in Washington and former head of public affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"When you feel like you're getting assaulted on every front, you've got to move deliberately, you do the grass-roots plan, you work with the analysts and agencies," said Robinson, who isn't advising Bank of America. "They are an engine of the economy, and taking every opportunity to quantify that is a smart strategy."
The lender's letter-writing initiative began in early September, before the backlash from debit-card users and the Occupy Wall Street movement gained momentum, said a person with direct know ledge of the plan who asked to remain anonymous because it isn't public.
