When I first moved to California, I opened my checking account with First Nationwide Bank based on branch location, fees, and recommendation. Not longer after, the bank was acquired by Golden State Bancorp, which merged First Nationwide into it’s CalFed (California Federal Bank) operating subsidiary. I’ve been reasonably satisfied with CalFed over the last few years and use the online banking facility extensively; I guess my biggest complaint has been the user unfriendly nature of that application. My investments, such as they are, have been handled for a number of years at Salomon Smith Barney. Actually, the account was with Smith Barney originally and then that firm was acquired by Travelers and merged in with Salomon Brothers; Travelers later merged with Citicorp to form Citigroup.
The financial world keeps getting smaller. In a move that some analysts say presages a new round of consolidation in the industry, Citigroup has made a deal to acquire Golden State Bancorp. The seller in this situation, the largest shareholder of Golden State, is none other than Ron Perelman, who needs the dough to clean up some of his other financial shenanigans. Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill, on the other hand, is a major strategist and seems to live for the next deal.
Meanwhile, I will (a) probably need to get new checks and get used to a new online banking system and (b) wonder if there will be any worthwhile synergistic changes from having investment and retail banking with the same company. Some banks, for example, count investment accounts towards minimums required for certain levels of service. Which might be nice. Or will I find the new fee and minimums structure unreasonable and switch my retail banking? Since this merger probably won’t close for the better part of a year, I have plenty of time to find out.
BillSaysThis 