Bank One Corp. on Wednesday announced plans to expand in Phoenix by adding 32 branches and making 600 hires over the next two years.
The Chicago company is hiring 150 in the Phoenix area for 75 existing branches whose hours are being extended by two hours. Tom Kelly, a spokesman, said the branches will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
Bank One will hire 450 people to staff the new branches. The 32 new branches will give it 140 in the Phoenix area, and all the new ones will have the longer hours.
This is part of a nationwide effort that includes a similar move in Chicago, announced in December, as well as smaller efforts in Denver and Dallas/Fort Worth. In its hometown Bank One is adding 28 branches and 70 ATMs and extending branch hours.
Overall it expects to add up to 75 branches nationwide this year, and it aims to have comparable growth over the next four years, Mr. Kelly said.
Marlene Dabovich, a Bank One vice president and the manager in a Phoenix-area branch, said the company is growing at a "rapid speed" to meet the demands of a growing population and to counter the emergence of competitors. She said the extended business day is partly in response to local banks' offering longer hours. "We decided we definitely needed some improvement there, and we matched those hours and stepped it up," she said.
Ms. Dabovich said the hours have helped Bank One capture more business, because in many families both parents hold jobs. "With two adults working, it's difficult to be in the same place at the same time, especially before the doors are closed," she said. "We're doing a better job talking to that customer, and that's probably the biggest and best change in all of this."
Nationally, its aim is to do "a better job for our customers," Mr. Kelly said. "We as a company, like lots of big banks, have not added branches for a while, so there are growth areas that we're not in yet."
