Washington Mutual

I was flipping an old Business Week in a dentist's office today, and ran into an article about difficulties of mortgage lenders. It mentioned in passing that Washington Mutual started as a loan provider, and they diversified into retail banking later. They also bought Providian, which is a second-tier credit card company. WM attempts to diversify as much as as they can, but "they have to retain 65% of assets in mortgage lending in order to continue to qualify for a federal charter of {some term-of-art which I forgot}".

The things you learn from old magazines. At one point I considered a checking account with WM in order to diversify from my current bank and its policies. Ah, the irony!