According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending increased in March by the largest amount in five months.

Consumer spending increased 0.6% in March, which matched expectations. While this is the good news, the bad news is that the gains appear to have been driven by a depletion of savings, which dropped to the lowest level in 18 months. The personal savings rate fell to 2.7% of post-tax incomes, the lowest level since September 2008. Personal incomes increased a mere 0.3%, which presents concern about minuscule income growth.

If Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) can't borrow everything it needs to get back on its feet, perhaps people opening savings accounts at the mortgage bank will do the trick. According to The Wall Street Journal, Countrywide is pulling in deposits of $50 million a day. The paper writes the "company is counting on deposit growth to provide funding for its mortgage lending."

Because of the success of getting deposits from individuals, Countrywide will increase the number of branches where people can open savings accounts.

There is no doubting the troubles that the company has been through. It is in the process of cutting 12,000 jobs.

And, that's what does not make sense about the pace of new deposits. One would think that people would avoid putting money will a bank that has been in so much trouble and whose woes have been on the front page of every newspaper.

Either there is a sucker born every minute, or Countrywide is giving away very nice toasters for every new deposit.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

More Countrywide Financial news

Douglas McIntyre: Countrywide (CFC) hires a PR firm
Eric Buscemi: Countrywide (CFC) showing some class and good business sense
Peter Cohan: Is Countrywide (CFC) too big to fail?
Zac Bissonnette: Let Mozilo provide Countrywide (CFC) with cash
Douglas McIntyre: Could subprime problems hurt search engines?
Peter Cohan: Is Bank of America's (BAC) purchase of Countrywide Financial (CFC) a good bet?
Joseph Lazzaro: The (still) foggy subprime mortgage sector
Peter Cohan: What the mortgage meltdown means to you
Eric Buscemi: George Bailey, meet Angelo Mozilo
Michael Fowlkes: Countrywide Financial (CFC) adds to subprime panic
Peter Cohan: Could Countrywide Financial (CFC) be put down?