Today's News

WASHINGTON: THE CAR BOMB that devastated a federal office building in Oklahoma City Wednesday destroyed the offices of Federal Employees Credit Union. Twenty- four of the $73 million-asset credit union's 35 employees were unaccounted for as of yesterday. Page 2 TAKING STOCK of the changes that have swept through banking in the last five years, the FDIC is considering other ways of assessing deposit insurance premiums - and has received more than 500 comment letters from banks, thrifts, and others. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: BANKS THAT employ market segmentation data in their day-to-day retail activities and have usable customer profitability information will have an important competitive advantage, Anat Bird writes. Page 5 COMMUNITY BANKING: A SMALL BANK in southern Maine has found a way to give something back to the community - with a percentage of its annual earnings. Page 6 FOR THE CEO of an El Dorado, Kan., thrift, the recent spate of acquisitions that has left the windswept oil town looking like some big-city banking center is merely the latest in a series of competitive and regulatory challenges to be overcome. Page 7 MORTGAGES: TWO MORTGAGE information companies will combine their expertise to offer prepayment and default predictions designed to help investors reduce portfolio losses. Page 8 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: BANK CUSTOMERS have been fleeing investment products, but that doesn't seem to be worrying an American Express unit that markets financial planning services through banks. Page 10 BANC ONE has settled on a list of seven outside fund families that it will offer customers. Page 11 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: SMART CARDS are moving forward so rapidly that even their boosters were expressing amazement last week at an international conference on the subject in Washington. Page 12 A MILITARY system with private-sector implications won the 1995 Outstanding Smart Card Application Award at last week's Cardtech/Securtech conference. Page 12 TECHNOLOGY: FIRST INTERSTATE is in the homestretch of a multiyear, multimillion-dollar systems consolidation project. Page 14 FINANCE: NATWEST SECURITIES analyst Stephen Berman upgraded Chemical Banking Corp. to "buy" from "hold," saying the outlook for all money-centers was bright. Back page

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