BANKING / FINANCE : Western Financial Savings Seeks to Make the Most of Its Differences

Executives at Western Financial Savings Bank in Orange think that their operation is a little unusual, and they want everyone in the state to know about it.

So they are mounting the savings and loan’s first statewide advertising campaign, an 11-week effort based on the theme that Western Financial, with $2 billion in assets, is “not your average bank.”

With 21 customer branches from Redwood City to Victorville to La Mesa, the S&L; is trying to attract more depositors and borrowers with radio and newspaper ads and direct mail. The ads boast that Western Financial doesn’t “underrate” its customers’ intelligence or deposits.

It also plans to flaunt its high level of capital by letting people know that it has more than five times the amount required by regulators. The effort is to show that Western Financial is a safe place to put money, said Jonathan Moore, the S&L;’s vice president for marketing.

Unlike many S&Ls;, Western Financial does not offer credit cards or checking accounts. “Horses don’t fly. We don’t do checking accounts,” one ad says. That way it does not have the heavier overhead expenses associated with checking accounts and can offer higher rates on certificates of deposit, Moore said.

The S&L;, the result of a 1983 merger between the 19-branch Western Thrift & Loan in Orange and the single-office Evergreen Savings in Redwood City, has been noted for the unusually heavy amount of auto loans it makes. Typically, about 50% of the S&L;’s loans are for automobiles; most savings institutions refuse to make car loans at all.

But the ad campaign is not pushing any single product, at least at first, Moore said.

“The first step of the campaign is to promote our identity,” he said.