Banks clout each other over country clubbers.

• Position: SterlingSouth Bank & Trust Co. in Greensboro and rival Carolina Bank seek well-to-do clients - Brief Article

Michael Cashwell, president of SterlingSouth Bank & Trust Co. in Greensboro, is opening a private bank, but that's not how he wants it seen. "The term 'private banking' is very illusory. It means different things to different people."

What that comment means to Robert Braswell, president and CEO of rival Carolina Bank, is that SterlingSouth has stumbled before it's out of the blocks -- veering from its original business plan of targeting rich folks. "Once an image is created," he notes, "it is difficult to unravel it."

SterlingSouth's sprint toward the middle-income bracket -- it has no minimum-income requirements like other private banks -- means a race is on between two homegrown banks that, despite nuances in strategy, are chasing the city's well-heeled and those who want to be.

SterlingSouth's headquarters and sole office is a mile from the seventh green of Greensboro Country Club. Its organizers and investors include prominent businessmen, lawyers, doctors and others from the Gate City's moneyed set.

In July, Carolina Bank opened a new headquarters and branch in Kirkwood, a neighborhood that has long been a stepping stone to the exclusive neighborhood around the country club. "We're a community bank focused on the small- to medium-sized businessperson and professional," Braswell says.

Carolina Bank already knows how lucrative that market can be. Converted to a state bank from a savings bank in late 1997, it earned $134,955 in the latest quarter, nearly 15% more than a year earlier. It has assets of $102 million, vs. $80.4 million at the end of 1999.

SterlingSouth is still awaiting a state banking charter but hopes to open this fall with more than $9 million in capital from a private stock offering. Nationally, most banks take between 18 and 30 months to make a profit, but as SterlingSouth warns investors, there are no guarantees.

To boost its chances, it's already nipping at Carolina Bank. At least six of its rival's 725 shareholders are in SterlingSouth's offering circular as investors. It wouldn't be hard for Carolina Bank customers to switch. A mere mile separates the banks' newest offices. It's going to get even cozier. SterlingSouth plans to open another branch just three blocks from Carolina Bank's original office.

To spread the word about its newest location, Carolina Bank put up a billboard: "A new neighbor who won't lend you sugar: Just money." In fact, being sweet to Cashwell is probably the last thing on Braswell's mind.

... Meanwhile, back at the branch

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