Security Pacific to Boost ATM Network 50% : Also Forming Staff to Market Car, Boat Loans

Security Pacific National Bank plans to increase its network of about 670 automated teller machines in California by “at least 50%” in the next two years, bank Chief Executive Robert H. Smith said in an interview Thursday.

Smith also said the bank has begun forming a staff of 100 salespeople who will sell auto and boat loans, among other consumer services, the same way real estate agents sell houses.

This sales force will be paid a commission and operate outside the branch offices, Smith said. Like real estate agents, they will go to people’s homes to help close the loans.

These changes and others are part of a major internal reorganization and shake-up that have already jarred the Los Angeles-based banking giant in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Security Pacific temporarily shut down its officer-training program.

“These are very substantive changes that are being condensed into three to five months instead of doing them over three to four years,” said the 51-year-old Smith, who was appointed chief executive less than two months ago.

Will Affect Workers

The changes will lead to “some displacement” among employees through attrition, transfer, early retirement and “generous severance packages,” the bank said in a statement. Smith declined to estimate how many of the bank’s 10,000 retail employees might be affected.

But he did predict that “once the direction is in place, they’ll like it. They’ll have the opportunity to make more money. . . . A branch manager, for example, will be able to earn up to 50% of his salary as a bonus. The negative is it means new jobs, new assignments, new responsibilities.”

The bank is also scrapping its standard branch office hours, which have traditionally extended from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in favor of flexible hours that will vary according to the neighborhood in which the branch is located. (Security Pacific has 600 retail branch offices statewide.)

For example, the bank branch office in the Security Pacific’s corporate headquarters in downtown Los Angles now opens at 8:15 a.m. to accommodate customers who want banking services before they go to the office.