Bank Plus Studies Possible Sale Over Credit Card Woes

Bank Plus Corp. may put itself up for sale as credit card delinquencies at its thrift subsidiary, Fidelity Federal Bank, continued to worsen.

As of Jan. 31, delinquencies in the program, which targeted borrowers with poor credit, were 22.2%, compared with 16.1% as of Sept. 30. The delinquencies helped lead to a $56.3-million loss for the year, Los Angeles-based Bank Plus said Friday.

The company said it was meeting with financial advisors to explore a possible sale of the company or of the credit card portfolio and its operations.

The company’s board also approved a shareholder rights plan to deter hostile takeovers.

Federal regulators stepped in last year after the credit card delinquencies began to spike.

Fidelity Federal said in November that it was forbidden from increasing its assets, making new contracts with outside companies or adding senior officers without approval from the federal Office of Thrift Supervision.

Fidelity said it had ended its relationship with one credit card marketer and was winding down its relationship with another.

The losses whittled Fidelity Federal’s financial cushion, moving it out of the “well-capitalized” category, which requires risk-based capital of 10% of assets and core capital of 6%, to the “adequately capitalized” category, which requires risk-based capital of 8% and core capital of 4%.