National City Corp. has agreed to acquire JBS Associates, a check guarantee company, for about $60 million in common stock and cash.
Cleveland-based National City, which had $28.6 billion in assets, said the acquisition reflected a desire to expand and diversity its fee businesses.
JBS Will complement National Processing Co., a bank subsidiary that processes airline tickets, credit card payments, and remittances.
A spokesman for the unit said that with the check guarantee business, National Processing would be able handle any kind of payment at the point of sale.
JBS Associates, based in Ringwood, N.J., has annual revenues of $50 million. National Processing, based in Louisville, Ky., has annual revenues of about $200 million.
