Chase, Wells Ballyhoo Mergers With Splashy New Web Pages

Two of the nation's largest banks have applied recent years' experience in merger consolidations to the creation of new World Wide Web sites.

Chase Manhattan Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., which formally merged with former rivals only days ago, each already have completed the process of merging their Web sites with those of their acquisitions.

Chase and Chemical Banking Corp. fused their low-profile Web sites into a glossy new one with more than 200 on-line "pages."

Wells and First Interstate Bancorp blended their sites into one with advanced transaction functions.

"Not bad for day one of a bank merger," said Vincent Hruska, vice president of electronic commerce services for the "new" Wells Fargo.

The "old" Wells Fargo had been the first bank to let customers perform some banking functions - like checking on account balances and finding out which checks have cleared - on the Internet.

Not to be outdone, First Interstate came forward in March with a site that included more banking functions, including loan services for small businesses.

Both banks' transactional capabilities are now offered at the new site, www.wellsfargo.com.

"In some cases you'll see Wells Fargo materials, and in some cases you'll see First Interstate's," said Mr. Hruska, a former First Interstate executive who helped design that bank's former site.

Mr. Hruska said that melding the two sites was a "monumental task."

"You can imagine the frantic pace at which we had to decide which would be surviving products and services," Mr. Hruska said.

Wells executives said traffic to the bank's Web site has been extremely heavy, but they would not reveal the specific number of "hits," or on-line visits.

Chase Manhattan's site does not allow customers to check their balances, but it does permit them to view 25 selections from the company's extensive private art gallery. The address is www.chase.com.

This new, streamlined address is likely to make it easier for customers to locate the bank on line, observers said. Previous Web sites for Chase and Chemical bore relatively long, difficult to remember addresses.

"One of the key features of the site from day one was to really talk about the merger, so our customers had a good understanding of the new Chase," said Claudia Mengel, a vice president of corporate marketing for Chase.

Some customers have sent E-mail to the bank expressing confusion about the impact of the merger on their accounts, Ms. Mengel said.

On-line fact sheets about the merger make clear that the two flagship banking subsidiaries will not merge their operations and branches until later this year.

Myles Trachtenberg, a vice president of distributed delivery services for Chase, said the new site got about 45,000 hits in its first 24 hours.

And those visitors have been peppering the bank with questions. "The information is being routed directly to the business areas that are responsible for those particular questions," Mr. Trachtenberg said.

In addition to information about CD and credit card rates, Internet users who browse Chase's Web site can learn about the company's annual road race and follow the fictional adventures of a virtual couple - Bruce and Julie - who roam the country in a recreational vehicle.

The travelogue is intended to spotlight the bank's loan products for cars, boats, and pleasure vehicles.

Chase officials could not pinpoint when their Web site would open for banking transactions. But they did say that additional features would be on-line soon.

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