Bank of America 1999 Annual Report Download - page 20

Bank of America has realigned
Commercial Banking resources, from
client contact to loan processing, to give
clients a faster, more personal banking
experience.
The more time spent face-to-face with
clients the better. To increase these pre-
cious minutes we have reorganized our
entire client team and support structure.
Five credit centers have been built,
with two more coming this year, so we
can bring together many loan production
tasks and put them in the hands of
experienced specialists. These new
centers increase the speed and efficiency
of processing loans for our clients. Just
as important, these improvements are
giving client managers more time in
the marketplace to know clients and
represent the many Bank of America
capabilities.
In the past, client managers had to
spend part of their day on product
details and other administrative tasks.
They were able to spend less than
30 percent of their time with clients.
Now they are increasingly free from day-
to-day credit underwriting details and
can spend more time in direct contact
with clients. The objective is to increase
client contact time to 70 percent.
Treasury Management services are
critically important to the middle
market, just as they are to the large
corporate market.
Demand for Treasury Management
services is high among middle-market
companies and there is substantial
opportunity for growth with existing
clients.
Our Treasury Management unit
helps middle-market companies,
institutions and government agencies
manage payments, receivables and other
aspects of their financial operations.
Growth opportunities abound.
One is an Internet service called
Bank of America Direct. Already
popular with commercial and corporate
clients, this service allows businesses to
connect to their accounts and banking
tools over the Internet. At year-end
1999, about 1,000 middle-market and
1,000 corporate clients were using the
service. Two years from now the number
of middle-market users is expected to
reach 10,000 to 15,000.
“One of our strategic imperatives is
to continue to maximize Commercial
Banking’s coast-to-coast advantage,”
says Regina Liang Chun, who leads a
new nationwide Treasury Management
function. “Treasury Management, with
its growing high-tech capabilities, is
critical to that strategy.”
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More than half of the 32,000 businesses
served by our Commercial Banking unit
have operations in more than one state,
giving the coast-to-coast franchise of
Bank of America a strong competitive
advantage in this market. Bank of
America is the leading provider of middle-
market financial services in California,
Texas, Florida and 10 other states.