Dealers claims rival was account able.

• Position: Brief Article

The push is on for banks to nudge customers into doing routine transactions via automatic teller machines, telephones and the Internet. That's because wires are cheaper than tellers and, according to the industry, just as safe. But a lawsuit suggests that's not so -- at least it wasn't in the mid-'90s.

Ray DeBruhl, owner of Transport Systems Inc. in Kinston, sells greenhouses to tobacco farmers. So does Dwight Howard, who owns Carolina Greenhouse Plants Inc. DeBruhl sued Howard in late 1997, claiming he and his two sons, Todd and Rob, tried to scare away customers and force him out of business. Howard calls the accusations the ravings of a desperate man whose business is failing because he mismanaged it. Needless to say, these guys don't agree on much. But they concur that phones at Carolina Greenhouse's offices apparently were used to get into Transplant System's accounts at Rocky Mount-based Centura Banks Inc..

DeBruhl says Centura provided phone access to his accounts without his knowledge. Until a password was created, they were open to anyone with his account number. Not knowing about it, he...