‘Merger Burn’ Relief at Jersey Shore Thrift

Ocean City Home Bank in Ocean City, N.J., is putting a sardonic spin on this year’s summer promotions, urging residents of the vacation community and surrounding county to seek its help for their merger-related injuries.

The $322 million-asset thrift recently began mailing out “relief-for-merger-victims” postcards to area residents, many of whom have been affected by the FleetBoston Financial Corp.-Summit Bancorp merger. In Cape May County has 14 Fleet branches, one of which is just four blocks away from Ocean City Home Bank.

Potential customers are invited to enter a drawing for prizes such as personal digital assistants, restaurant gift certificates, and boardwalk gift packs. Customers who open two checking accounts will get a “merger victim survival kit” — a waterproof first aid kit complete with Band-Aids bearing the thrift’s logo. Current customers who open a second account can also get the kit.

“Every year we give out beach towels, but this year we wanted to tie a second promotion into the Fleet and Summit merger,” said Steven E. Brady, Ocean City’s president and chief executive officer. “And ‘relief for merger victims’ seemed more than appropriate.”

Mr. Brady said the thrift has seen only minimal runoff from the Fleet-Summit merger but added that business is slow for all seaside banks in the off-season. He said he is hoping vacationers who come to Ocean City for the summer will take its “don’t-get-burned-by-mergers” message to heart — and move their own accounts to Ocean City Home.

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