Capital Briefs: Go-Ahead for Banks to Join IBM-Led Network

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has approved the participation of 12 national banks in a home banking network venture with International Business Machines.

In a Dec. 4 approval, announced Monday, the OCC gave the consortium, which includes BankAmerica Corp., NationsBank Corp., and First Chicago NBD Corp., permission to invest in Integrion Financial Network.

The Federal Reserve Board on Dec. 2 gave approval to the three other banks: Norwest Corp., Royal Bank of Canada, and ABN AMRO North America.

Atlanta-based Integrion will establish an electronic "gateway" through which these banks can offer a variety of home banking products under their own brand names. Customers will be able to access their accounts through personal computers, telephones, and interactive television. Eventually, customers will be able to access third-party services such as stock quotations through the network, the OCC said.

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