Today's News

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: BARNETT BANKS joined First Data's merchant-bank alliance program. Lyn Miles, Barnett's president of merchant services, said the venture would establish a jointly owned company with the two corporations splitting profits. Page 12 FIRST USA Bank and the Waldenbooks bookstore chain have introduced a Visa card that offers gift certificates on books. Page 12 WASHINGTON: THE CREDIT UNION National Association got its day in court Friday, arguing that the government has no basis for cutting out the trade group from corporate credit union management. Page 2 FOREIGN BANKERS doing business in the United States are convinced they've got it much tougher than the domestic bankers who complain about coping with this country's tangle of banking laws and regulations. Page 4 REGIONAL BANKING: SALT LAKE CITY-based First Security Corp. says it has begun a grueling companywide search for ways to cut costs, boost revenues, and improve service. Page 6 COMMUNITY BANKING: JEROLD L. HARRIS, president and chief executive of the Farm Credit Bank in Wichita, Kan., gets hot under the collar when he hears bankers' complaints about his organization. He believes the farm credit banks are just aggressive enough to be a competitive force. Page 14 MORTGAGES: THE HOUSING market has bottomed out, according to the chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. David Lereah predicts an increase in originations into 1996. Page 15 CREDIT UNIONS: THE INDUSTRY's delinquency ratio should start rising after a 13-year slide, the chief economist for the Credit Union National Association predicts. The rise would be a side effect of last year's dramatic loan growth. Page 17 TECHNOLOGY: A RESEARCH report found that more than one-quarter of 90 major financial firms surveyed lack operational disaster recovery plans for their securities trading rooms. Page 18 BANC ONE and Crestar Financial have renewed their outsourcing contracts with SEI Corp. for trust accounting. Page 20