Role for USABancShares in Music Awards Show

of the year" awards show to be presented in late October by GQ magazine and the VH-1 cable music television channel.

The deal will give the Internet bank advertising time and put its software on a compact disc being issued to promote the show. The disc, to be included with the 600,000 October issues of GQ magazine, will also hold music to be featured on the program.

The cost of the campaign was not disclosed.

Two weeks ago the $250 million-asset bank entered into an agreement with another sponsor of the awards show, UltraStar Internet Services LLC, an Internet access provider founded by rock-star David Bowie. USABancShares.com will pay UltraStar for customer referrals.

Ken Tepper, the bank's president and chief executive officer, said both deals were made to introduce it to a hip, tech-savvy audience.

"We continue to explore new ways to direct site traffic and build a customer base," he said. "David Bowie has been way out front in terms of merging entertainment with technology, and working with him is very important to us."

Mr. Bowie, a one-time rock-and-roll bad-boy now turned entrepreneur, said in a news release that his company is affiliating with USABancShares because "on-line banking is the next logical progression in this electronic age."

USABancShares.com launched its Web site in April and has been marketing aggressively. It started off by auctioning certificates of deposits, and has also signed deals with two computer manufacturers to put a link to the bank's home page on new machines. -- Louis Whiteman

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