Bank insurance revenue skyrocketed in first half

Insurance revenue at banks jumped by 9.5% to $23.7 billion in the first six months of the year, according to the American Bankers Insurance Association. That’s up from $21.7 billion in the comparable period last year, according to the findings, which were released today by Michael White Associates LLC in Radnor, Pa. and the Washington-based ABIA. The data was harvested from 946 bank holding companies. Citigroup Inc. of New York led the pack with total insurance income of $1.97 billion during the first half of the year. Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco came in second, earning $1.05 billion in the first six months of the year. BB&T Corp. climbed the list to third from fourth, earning $448.9 million in the first half of 2008. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T bumped HSBC North America Holdings Inc. of Mettawa, Ill., to fifth place during the first half, with HSBC bringing in $275.1 million in total insurance income. The study also revealed that in this time period, 607 bank holding companies earned some type of insurance-related revenue, down from 627 in the first half of 2007. Nevertheless, bank holding companies brought in more money from insurance brokerage fees, which hit $6.44 billion, up 3.0% from $6.26 billion in the first half of 2007.