Easing onto the Information Superhighway

While some banks are racing to make electronic connections with their customers, FirstMerit Corp. is taking it slow.

"We are not seeing the sense of strong demand that would warrant a great sense of urgency," said John R. Cochran, chief executive of the Akron, Ohio-based banking company.

The primary home banking channel the bank is eyeing now is a centralized telephone voice response unit to replace its current patchwork system. It's expected to be completed later this year.

"Our customer base, from our research, they tell us their priority is using the phone," said Carrie L. Tolstedt, senior vice president at the $5.6 billion asset bank. "We don't have anybody today knocking our doors down saying, If you don't have screen phones we won't bank with you."

Still, FirstMerit has a team of managers studying the newer delivery channels.

"We're looking at the Internet in relation to how our customers can do business with us," said H. Joseph Haren, senior vice president and chief information officer. "Anything from the home page to product information, to distributing rates, to taking applications, and, in the future, doing banking through the Internet."

The technology planners are also looking at PC banking, kiosks, and smart cards. The bank will be reviewing each technology this year to determine when, or if, they will be pursued.

"Certainly a lot of our local competition offers some other alternatives, and we want to be able to meet our" customers' needs, said Ms. Tolstedt. "But we want to take it in a kind of integrated, step-by-step fashion."

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