Bermuda-based insurance behemoth White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. is making an aggressive push into the Southeast with plans to expand its online auto insurance operation into five Southern states this year.

White Mountain's auto insurance subsidiary, Esurance, opened a regional claims office in Alpharetta last May.

Plans for 2006 include expanding to Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, as well as Oregon, according to an April 10 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Esurance's products are available in 22 states.

Founded in 1999, Esurance had more than 210,000 policyholders and $350 million in direct written premiums by the end of 2005.

White Mountains had $19.4 billion in assets as of Dec. 31.

Bill bested
The Georgia banking industry defeated a number of proposals calling for greater security at ATM machines during the 2006 legislative session.

The initiatives, championed by Sen. John Wiles, R-Kennesaw, would have required that ATMs outside buildings be equipped with emergency buttons that would call 911, and would have created a Senate study committee on ATM safety.

Another proposal that Wiles pre-filed, but did not introduce, would have required that ATM machines be programmed to accept PIN numbers entered in reverse order -- to alert law enforcement of an emergency at the ATM. The ATM owner could charge customers who subscribe to the service a fee of $1.50 per month.

The Georgia Bankers Association opposed all three proposals.

Elizabeth Chandler, senior vice president of government relations for the bankers association, said it opposed requiring ATMs to accept reverse PIN numbers because it believes the relevant technology does not work.

Despite the failure to pass a study committee resolution, Wiles said the Senate leadership has the authority to appoint a committee and may do so. He said he will continue to study the issues and if re-elected plans to reintroduce his proposals next year.

Bucks for Banco
Mexican businessman Victor Rivera has invested $500,000 in Roswell-based Hispanic-oriented financial services company Nuestra Tarjeta de Servicios Inc.

Nuestra Tarjeta operates El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, a division of SunTrust Bank that serves Atlanta's Hispanic community.

Directors of Nuestra Tarjeta include Robin Loudermilk, a real estate developer and president of Aaron Rents Inc., and attorney Glenn Sturm.

Founded in 2001, the privately held Nuestra Tarjeta focuses on the "unbanked" and "underbanked" Latino market.

In addition to operating 12 retail bank branches in partnership with SunTrust Banks Inc. under the El Banco brand, Nuestra consults to other banks around the country and offers financial products geared to the Hispanic market.

The Hispanic population grew faster in Georgia than in any other state between 2000 and 2002 at 17 percent, with 102 Hispanics moving to Georgia each day, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

At the same time, metro Atlanta experienced the most rapid Hispanic growth rate among the nation's 20 most populous metro areas, the same report said.

Flag flying high
Its new status as the largest community banking company with its headquarters in Atlanta seems to agree with Flag Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: FLAG).

Following its integration of First Capital Bancorp into Flag Bank, Flag's first-quarter earnings increased nearly 200 percent, to a record $5.4 million, up from 1.8 million, during the year-ago period.

The company cited several factors for the improvement, including the successful integration of First Capital Bank and the success of Flag's core deposit and lending programs. Despite the financial momentum, Flag has no plans to open additional Atlanta branches this year, said Joseph Evans, chairman and CEO of the holding company, Flag Financial Corp.

The bank has seven locations in Atlanta.

"We feel we have just scratched the surface in penetrating the areas where we're already focused," Evans said.

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