In Brief: BankAmerica in Chicago-Area Business Push

BankAmerica Corp., following up on its vow to market small- business financing nationwide by the end of next year, has been selling products through a variety of channels here.

Since June, it has offered business checking accounts, money-market accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit through its supermarket branch network, according to Shannon Jones, a BankAmerica public relations officer.

At about the same time, the company dispatched a small-business sales force to knock on doors in the Chicago area, Ms. Jones said.

"We will be doing accompanying marketing efforts in areas where we have branches," she said. For competitive reasons, she wouldn't specify what types of marketing would be used. In its other markets the bank has used sales and direct mail.

BankAmerica, based in San Francisco, is the nation's third-largest bank. It entered the Chicago market two years ago by acquiring Continental Bank Corp.

It has opened 30 branches in Jewel-Osco stores since January. Ms. Jones said there are plans to open 60 more by yearend, extending the company's reach into other parts of Illinois and Indiana.