The Changing Face of Alaska's Top Banks.

• Author: BARBOUR, TRACY
• Position: Brief Article

First National Bank, KeyBank and National Bank of Alaska are growing and changing to meet consumer demands.

The banking industry in Alaska, as elsewhere, has evolved tremendously over the years. A changing competitive environment-shaped by mergers, deregulation, technology and other influences-has transformed many banks into financial services institutions.

Banks today are no longer just places to stash and get cash. They feature a wide variety of product offerings, from checking accounts and loans to insurance and investment products to online banking.

Here's a look at how Alaska's top three banks have matured over the years, and a brief update on their latest products and services, operating strategies and plans for the future.

National Bank of Alaska

Perhaps no other bank in the state has evolved over the years as much as National Bank of Alaska.

Founded in 1916, NBA grew from a one-room office in Skagway to become the state's largest financial institution. Today it has 53 banking stores, 150 ATMs in 29 communities and $3 billion in assets.

NBA initially established itself as a commercial lender. But over the years, the bank has adopted a more consumer-focused approach, says President Richard Strutz, who has been with the bank for 31 years. "Five years ago, we decided to change the configuration of our branches and become more sales oriented," he said. "The bank wanted to grow so we had to branch out more into consumer lending."

As a result, NBA began selling more consumer-friendly products like mutual funds and annuities. Now consumer lending is among the bank's strengths, Strutz said. "We're a great consumer lender ... a great mortgage lender and a very good business lender."

NBA's desire for expansion ultimately led to the most significant change of its history: the merger of National Bancorp of Alaska--NBA's parent company-with diversified financial services giant Wells Fargo & Co. The alliance with Wells Fargo became official last July. With 2,900 banking stores nationwide and more than $200 billion in assets, Wells Fargo is the country's most extensive banking franchise.

The final phase of the merger will take place in June, Strutz said. And at that time, NBA will switch to the Wells Fargo name and computer system.

Becoming part of a larger financial company was a necessary step to enhancing NBA's products and services, said Strutz. And after the merger, customers will have access to better deposit, mortgage and insurance products-not to mention the world's leading online banking site, Strutz said. (Wells Fargo currently serves 14 percent of all online banking customers in the country.)

NBA was already offering online banking service before the merger began, but Wells Fargo has a superior product, Strutz said. "It's much more user-friendly. It's state-of-the art."

In the future, NBA/Wells Fargo customers will see greater diversification of products, Strutz said. One ex ample-which is already in the works-is private client services. "We've hired stockbrokers ... and private banking personnel to handle higher-end customers."

While the NBA/Wells Fargo alliance promises different products and services and other changes, there are some things that will remain the same: The same great people will continue to serve the bank's customers in the same locations, Strutz said. And NBA, under the identity of Wells Fargo, will continue to make management and loan decisions in Alaska. "We're not closing branches because...