Bankers with billion-dollar auto loan portfolios said they expect minimal, if any, impact from a rise in interest rates, as the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee said on Thursday it would postpone raising rates after all.
“All things being equal, with rates going up, we will do better,” said Jamie Dimon, chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference today. Bankers at the conference spoke in general terms about raising rates, not specifically referring to auto loans.
U.S. Bancorp, for instance, is pushing efficiency and cost-cutting measures, regardless of what
happens with interest rates, said Chairman Richard Davis.
“Those are baked in, so I can care less about when interest rates move,” Davis said at the conference on Thursday.
Assuming it’s small, when it comes the first interest rate hike would be “meaningless, financially,”
Davis said. “I’m all for, ‘Let’s give it a shot, 25 basis points,’ and see what it does.”
John Shrewsberry, chief financial officer for Wells Fargo & Co., said at the conference on Wednesday the bank isn’t counting on higher rates to improve net interest income.
“We stopped waiting for higher rates,” he said. “We plan to grow net interest income even if rates remain low.”
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