Web Bank That Auctions Certificates of Deposit Advertising on CNBC,

USABanc.com, the first bank holding company to have a "dot-com" name, has launched an ad campaign for its Internet bank on the CNBC and MSNBC cable television channels.

It has committed $1 million for two months. The ads, with the tag line "Bank the World," seek to communicate a progressive image.

"The Internet experience is one of world culture and open communication," said Kenneth L. Tepper, president and chief executive officer of USABanc.com. "With the world becoming a smaller place, we want to connect customers to wherever they want to go."

The $185 million-asset bank has also been advertising on the Howard Stern radio show in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, and Miami.

It plans to add print and other components to its national campaign but is moving away from running banner advertisements on the Web.

"It's not so cool to click on banners. People are immune to it," Mr. Tepper said.

USABanc.com's philosophy is to link its bank Web site to "other sites we think are cool," said the 37-year-old Mr. Tepper.

Those sites include Amazon.com, where customers can go to buy compact discs after listening to them on USABanc.com's site. Other links are to Apple Computer, the Austin Powers movie Web page, and BBC Worldwide.

"It's very important that users don't feel trapped," he said.

Mr. Tepper says his goal is not to get just a piece of the Internet banking market but to own it.

"The rules for how to bank the world are unclear," he said. "What we can do, we will do."

For one thing, he plans to offer the bank's Web services in many languages.

The bank will probably keep one branch in its hometown, Philadelphia, Mr. Tepper said.

It already runs an on-line auction for certificates of deposit and plans to add on-line brokerage services through a relationship with Electronic Data Systems Corp.

USABanc.com, formerly USABancShares, owns a Pennsylvania-chartered savings bank, BankPhiladelphia, and a brokerage firm, USACapital.