Post-merger BofA starts trimming local branches.

Former Security Pacific outlets favored as first to go

The first closures of excess bank branches from the Bank of America-Security Pacific merger began last week, and bank customers can expect more Security Pacific outlets than Bank of America ones to be shuttered, Bank of America officials said last week.

So far 26 of the 33 branches in Los Angeles County which have closed or been identified as scheduled for closure were Security Pacific's, said Charlie Coleman, spokesman for the San Francisco-based Bank of America.

On the weekend of Nov. 14 and 15, Bank of America finished closing 15 of 44 branches it has in the west San Fernando Valley area. Of the 15 closures, 12 were Security Pacific branches.

On the weekends of Dec. 5 and 6 and Dec. 12 and 13, Bank of America will close 18 of 44 branches in the Burbank-Glendale-east San Fernando Valley area, Coleman said. Fourteen will be Security Pacific branches.

The closures announced so far are in two of the bank's 11 districts in Los Angeles County, Coleman said. Altogether, there are 400 branches in Los Angeles County, he said.

Decisions on other branch closures in the county will be announced at year-end and all closures will be completed by April 1993, Coleman said.

After the December closures, "we don't have any more consolidations scheduled until late January and late February," Coleman said.

Bank of America prefers to close Security Pacific branches because it costs the bank from $500,000 to $1 million per branch to convert a Security Pacific branch to a Bank of America operation, said Julie Jasper, Bank of America spokeswoman.

Bank of America officials have previously stated that closure decisions are based on real estate factors such as whether the bank owns or leases the branch, the size of the parking lot and floor size of the branch.

But Jasper said, "If all factors are equal, we'll stay with the Bank of America branch. It's only a good business decision."

Costs of converting a branch include switching computer systems, changing signage and remodeling the branch, Jasper said. But he added that favoring Bank of America branches doesn't mean the bank is favoring Bank of America employees.

Bank officials could not say how many branch employees will be terminated as a result of the closures, but typically a branch employs 15 to 30 people, Coleman said.

In the third quarter, BankAmerica Corp., Bank of America's parent which operates banks all over the Western U.S., cut 4,500 jobs, said Pat Lindhl, BankAmerica spokeswoman. She said there were no numbers available for how many jobs were eliminated in California or Los Angeles.

BankAmerica merged with Los Angeles-based Security Pacific Corp. on April 22. The merger is expected to result in the loss of 10,000 to 12,000 in the West.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based First Interstate Bank of California, the third largest bank in the state, has trumpeted that it has gained 50,000 new customers and $400 million in deposits in the last year from customers dissatisfied with the newly merged Bank of America, said Rich Wyler, spokesman for First Interstate.

Coleman of Bank of America said he could not provide any figures on retail deposits at Bank of America or whether there has been any change since the merger.

"We have been saying we have as many customers today as we had in April when the merger was completed," Coleman said.

Since Bank of America started closing branches this month, First Interstate has stepped up efforts to woo customers unhappy about the merger.

First Interstate hired "mobile billboards," trucks displaying signs that say "Don't Merge" and they will cruise past closed Security Pacific branches this week, Wyler said.

"We see this as the opportunity of the decade to build market share in a short period of time," Wyler said.