For sale: financial services.

• Author: Bauman, Margaret
• Position: Alaska

To invest in stock these days, you might go to a bank instead of a brokerage firm. To get a certificate of deposit, you might go to a credit union, not a bank. It's all part of the new game in financial services. To win over customers, Alaska's banks must compete with brokerage houses and credit unions to offer diversified financial services, from on-line banking to instant loans and in-house stock services.

An Anchorage client of a prominent brokerage firm was recently surprised when her broker suggested her investment funds would have more liquidity through a certificate of deposit (CD) at Northrim Bank.

While the long-term return on the original investment might perhaps yield more, Northrim's 18-month jump-up CD would guarantee the same growth in a shorter amount of time and would be more liquid, the broker said.

Similar stories replay again and again throughout Alaska these days. The traditional lines between banks, credit unions and brokerage houses are disappearing as these institutions compete to attract customers by offering a wide array of financial services.

Northrim's president Marc Langland smiled when he heard the above story. Would he refer his customers to another institution for competing services? "Well, we don't do a lot of fishing loans, but some other bank might do that kind of loan, and we might refer them," he says.

By and large, he adds, banks are very competitive. The bottom line is banks have to diversify their financial services in order to secure today's discriminating customers.

Battle for Bank Services

Competition is hot between banks for computer access to checking and savings accounts, automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale (POS) or debit cards, bill paying and access to personal accounts via home or business computers. Every few months it seems, a new technology appears to make banking easier and more efficient for customers.

National Bank of Alaska (NBA), for example, offers a Versatel Card, which customers can use to draw cash from their accounts while traveling in 10 Western states and some foreign countries. NBA's Elaine Junge, an assistant vice president and marketing officer, says the bank offers a Visa Check Card which "works like an ATM card, but can also be used as a Visa card."

In addition, the bank gives its customers the option of choosing a business ATM card for deposits, withdrawals, transfer of funds and for making loan payments. These cards can be tailored to fit individual...