TECHNOLOGY:
UNDER FRED WINKLER, senior vice president and head of card products, First Union is working with MCI to develop a private and secure on-line service for the bank's customers. Page 12
A KEYCORP UNIT has developed a client/server application that automates the bank's ATM deposit and withdrawal balancing. Page 12
WASHINGTON:
JOHN E. DEAN of the Consumer Bankers Association, who is leading the drive against direct federal student loans, says banks have to be willing to take on more risk to keep the business. Page 3
THE NATIONAL Credit Union Administration recently asked the Justice Department to give up its defense of a Houston credit union's attempt to extend membership to 500,000 people. Page 2
COMMUNITY BANKING:
IN TEXAS, whose humming economy is driven in large part by small- business growth, small-business lending is the ticket. And many of those profiting from the niche, like Texas State Bank in McAllen, are doing so with small - even tiny - loans. Page 6
THE SEC has charged another director of Rochester Community Savings Bank and his son with insider trading in the second phase of a growing investigation that has already netted one director and five associates. Page 6
MORTGAGES:
WITH FINAL BIDS for Prudential Insurance Company of America's home mortgage unit due today, the market is rife with speculation about who will buy what part of the largest home mortgage company ever put on the auction block. Page 8
MORTGAGE BANKERS are eyeing new products and services - from credit cards to financial planning - to supplement bread-and-butter lending.
Page 8
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
VIDEO RENTAL giant Blockbuster Entertainment Group, which began offering a cobranded credit card last March, is testing a stored-value card - without a bank.
Page 11
CASH STATION INC. announced it will reduce the transaction fees it charges for on-line point of sale services by one-third.
Page 11
REGIONAL BANKING:
CITING A DESIRE to shorten lines and processing time, Bank South said it will charge customers using unencoded deposit slips and counter checks $1 per item once they have submitted two in a month. Page 5
FINANCE:
ANALYSTS SEE no evident reason why bank stock prices might head south now, as they did last September amid rising interest rates. But few think they can approach the barn-burning pace of this year's first half, even with rates now flat or falling. Back page
