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Banking on change(St. Louis Post-Dispatch (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 4--U.S. Bancorp is the biggest bank in St. Louis, but its leaders see the cup as half empty. So the company is launching a major initiative to lure customers away from Bank of America and smaller rivals by expanding customer service with more branches, longer hours, same-day processing of deposits and upgraded ATM locations. U.S. Bank has hired nearly 200 new employees since August as part of the plan, bringing the total number of workers here up to 3,400. And on Wednesday it's launching a seven-figure television, radio and print advertising campaign to highlight these new services in the St. Louis area. "We're investing a lot of money in the St. Louis market," said Joe Imbs, St. Louis market president. "U.S. Bank is a dominant player in St. Louis and will only continue to grow as customers will find us open whenever they need us." The advertising campaign is the biggest undertaken in St. Louis by the Minneapolis-based bank, and one of the largest it has ever done in a single market. Although Imbs would not give a specific figure on the amount being spent, he said it was more than $1 million. "U.S. Bank is taking action to be on the offensive as well as defensive," said David George, an analyst with A.G. Edwards. "St. Louis has become a very competitive market. It makes sense to spend money to build brand awareness." U.S. Bank's St. Louis roots date to 2000 when Mercantile Bank, the largest in the market at the time, was bought by Milwaukee-based Firstar Corp. Shortly after, Firstar bought U.S. Bank, and adopted the name and headquarters. In June of 1999, Mercantile held more than 25 percent of the local banking market, based on deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statistics. By June of 2005, U.S. Bank's market share had fallen to less than 19 percent. William Donius, chief executive of Pulaski Financial Corp, which owns nine banks in the St. Louis area, was skeptical about the impact of U.S. Bank's advertising campaign. "The big question is anyone in this market going to believe them. It might be too little too late," he said, explaining that he constantly hears complaints from customers about the difficulties in dealing with a big bank. U.S. Bank's expansion and advertising campaign is to take place just before the April 17 opening of its 100th branch and 300th ATM in the St. Louis area on April 17. A spokesman for Bank of America, which holds the No. 2 position locally, said the company does not comment on rivals' expansion strategies. Bank of America once operated 24 branches in Schnuck Markets Inc. stores, but it began pulling out of the business last year as leases expired. U.S. Bank has taken over at Schnucks and is expanding to 26 stores. In addition, U.S. Bank will have ATM machines in all 66 Schnucks stores in St. Louis and southeast Illinois. Beyond the advertising campaign, Imbs said hours will be extended by one hour at 17 of the bank's high-traffic locations. U.S. Bank is even reaching out to youngsters with a program called "Just US Kids" that will have its own board of directors. It's an educational outreach program that teaches children about the importance of setting long-term goals and saving for them. Despite U.S. Bank's efforts, Donius suggested the company might have to hire 10,000 employees to provide the same level of service as Pulaski. "They can't possibly out-service a community bank," he said. "Customers can have a personal connection here that they can't have with a big bank." U.S. BANK: St. Louis's largest bank is launching a set of initiatives to compete with Bank of America and smaller rivals: --More branches --Longer hours --Same-day processing of deposits --Increased ATM locations U.S. Bank is taking over at Schnucks stores BRANCHING OUT: Bank ... branches ...deposits in millions ... market share U.S. BANK ... 85 ... $8.9 ... 18.59 percent BANK OF AMERICA ... 74 ... $6.7 ... 13.98 percent COMMERCE BANK ... 45 ... $3.5 ... 7.29 percent REGIONS BANK ... 78 ... $3.3 ... 6.77 percent FIRST BANK ... 55 ... $2 4.27 percent Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, June 2005 |