In Brief: Telebank's Deposits Pass $2B Milestone

Deposits at Telebank have reached $2 billion, up from $1.1 billion at the end of last year, and customer accounts has risen to 100,000.

The increases make the Telebanc Financial Corp. subsidiary one of the top 40 federally chartered savings banks, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp data, Telebank said.

Mitchell H. Caplan, the bank's president and chief executive officer, attributed the growth to aggressive marketing.

The $3.2 billion-asset company is spending $21 million in marketing this year, up from $5 million last year. The money is funding campaigns conducted nationally, regionally, on-line, and with existing customers.

Mr. Caplan said the huge marketing budgets of other new Internet banks -- such as Bank One's WingspanBank.com, which is said to be spending $150 million on advertising this year -- are also drawing public interest for banking over the Internet in general.

In the third quarter of this year, net deposits grew by $476 million and accounts by 28,000. The deposit total was up 108% from a year earlier, Mr. Caplan said, and the account total was up 107%.

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