Nevada bank operator expanding in California

Michael Liedtke

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

Bank of the West entered the Southern Nevada market Jan. 16 when it opened seven branch locations formerly operated by First Security Bank. Since then, the bank has not expanded locally, bank spokesman John Stafford said. The company has had a presence in the state since it debuted branches in Carson City and Reno in 1999. A third Northern Nevada branch opened in Sparks in November 2000.

Bank of the West employs about 125 people statewide.

The acquisition of the Japanese-owned United California Bank will give the Bank of the West its first significant presence south of Fresno. Two-thirds of United California's 117 branches are in Southern California.

Bank of the West, which is scheduled to sell its publicly held stock to the French-based BNP Paribas Dec. 20, has 118 Northern California branches, cobbled together largely through a series of takeovers made during the 1990s. Bank of the West runs 131 other branches in Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, Guam and Sapai.

The United California takeover will boost Bank of the West's California deposits to about $15 billion -- ranking it seventh in the state among major banks and thrifts, based on June 30 data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Bank of America, with $108.5 billion in California deposits, and Wells Fargo, with $68.5 billion in statewide deposits, control 36 percent of the market, according to the FDIC.

Although relatively small, Bank of the West has built a widely recognized brand in Northern California with an aggressive marketing campaign that regularly pokes fun at the array of fees and increasingly automated services at B of A and Wells.

Bank of the West will take the same satirical marketing approach when it assumes control of United California Bank early next year, said Don McGrath, Bank of the West's president and chief operating officer.

"We're not dealing with a cure for cancer here. We are going to continue to have some fun," McGrath said.

Besides aiming barbs at its biggest rivals, Bank of the West also frequently lures new customers with bargains. On several occasions in recent years, Bank of the West has promised new customers free checking, with no strings attached.

United California Bank recently completed a similar free checking account promotion to raise customer awareness of its new name, created in July after a merger between two Japanese banks, Sanwa and Tokai.

The United California name will disappear by next September when all the branches will be renamed Bank of the West.

Fewer than 20 branches in overlapping markets will close following the merger, McGrath said. Bank of the West will eliminate less than 10 percent of the 5,500 jobs involved in the deal, McGrath estimated.

Bank of the West employs about 2,500 California workers, while United California has 3,000 employees. Both banks imposed hiring freezes Monday in an effort to realize the job cuts through attrition instead of layoffs.

Even though it has only $11 billion in assets, United California ranks as the largest bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The state's largest city has lost major banks such as Security Pacific, First Interstate and Imperial Bank in a wave of takeovers over the last decade.