Bank acquirer soothes merger-anxious customers. (United New Mexico Financial Corp.)(Marketing Exchange)

ABA Banking Journal, December, 1991

Customers typically respond to a merger the same way they respond to any other change at their bank--by asking "what's in it for me?" Often, the answer is "not much." At best, everything the customer is used to stays the same. At worst, the person's favorite teller is laid off, they have toorder new checks, they have to go to a branch that's an extra three blocks away, or they have to pay new fees on an account. There are dozens of ways to annoy customers during a merger.

On the other hand, there's United New Mexico Financial Corp. During the first new months following the Albuquerque-based institution's acquisition of 14 branches of First Interstate Bank of Albuquerque, the combined bank's net customer base grew by 250 customers a week. How did it...

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