Going global: Alaska banks and credit unions help clients go beyond borders.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As businesses begin to focus more on serving the global economy, it is vital that they have the support they need to work in any time zone, anywhere on earth. To that end, Alaska banks and credit unions are starting to look outside the state's, and even the nation's, borders in order to provide clients with the financial resources they need.

While some financial institutions are focused on making sure that their clients have access to their accounts electronically at any given time, others are looking to provide services onsite in foreign countries. Still others are tailoring specific services such as loans and equipment-financing programs to help companies doing business overseas acquire and sell their products worldwide.

"More and more U.S. companies in the mid-market and small-business arena are beginning to focus on global activities as the result of a number of factors, including the decline of the U.S. dollar and the opportunities that working in a foreign market presents," explained Sanjiv Sanghvi, president and CEO, Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank. "In the next 100 years, the greatest economic growth is going to take place outside the U.S., which will lead companies to markets farther and farther from home."

ELECTRONIC BANKING FOR EASIER ACCESS

In the past, when individuals moved from Alaska to another state or country, they would often close their Alaska accounts in order to have local access to their funds. "Today it is becoming less and less important to customers to have a local bank," said Tom Newins, senior vice president of member services, Credit Union 1. "Because electronic banking makes access so convenient, where a person lives or works is almost irrelevant."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Newins gives the example of two of Credit Union 1's clients, one of whom moved from Fairbanks to the South Pole, and the other from Alaska to Indonesia. "With telephone access and Internet access, they can still do their banking with us, whether they're using our free bill pay service or direct deposit service," he explained. "We will even e-mail them messages about the current status of their accounts, including when their balances fall below certain amounts, or if we suspect possible fraud."

According to Eric Bjella, First Bank vice president of marketing, being able to provide electronic services like these helps to keep clients' accounts in-state. "We realize that our customers are working or traveling all over the world...