Merger Leaves Some Wary, Others Wondering About Jobs

In Orange County, customers and banking officials were unsure what effect the merger would have on their personal lives. Many customers interviewed on Monday were openly wary of the merger, while some banking officials expressed hope that business will go on as usual and that their jobs will remain secure.

“I can’t imagine they’ll keep all those branches,” said Karen L. Madsen, vice president of Security Pacific’s Costa Mesa office.

Madsen said most branch workers learned about the merger on the radio as they drove to work. By the time they started their morning shifts, a computer message was sent to them from the bank’s headquarters, curtly informing them that they will merge with Bank of America.

By early afternoon, employees were still in the dark about details of the merger or what impact it will have on their jobs.

Madsen said she and other employees were not surprised by a merger announcement, pointing out that rumors of merger talks, particularly with Wells Fargo, had been floating for several months.

Employees of both banks said they had expected to be inundated with calls from customers wondering what the merger will mean to their accounts. But only sporadic calls from curious or anxious customers materialized.

That did not mean that customers, especially of Security Pacific branches, were not concerned about their accounts. In interviews outside of several branches, skepticism was mixed liberally with optimism about the future.

“I don’t think it’s good for the consumer,” said Eddie Hecht, 51, a Fountain Valley businessman, who was visiting a Costa Mesa Bank of America branch. “It’s bad news. It’ll get worse before it gets better.”

Hecht, who has accounts at both Bank of America and Security Pacific Bank, said he will wait to see what kind of changes in services will occur before deciding what, if any, accounts he will close.

What he feared, however, is that overall service would worsen as competition decreases.

Kelly Hearn, 23, of Newport Beach, a customer at a Costa Mesa Security Pacific branch office, paused before walking into the bank to straighten out the second mistake--an unauthorized transfer of his funds to another customer’s account--in two months.

He said that he heard a news report of the merger on the radio while driving to the bank. His immediate reaction was one of guarded optimism.

“I hope their service gets better out of all this,” Hearn said.

UC Irvine economist David Brownstone said both Hecht and Hearns were correct in their assessments.

In the short term, he said, customers are likely to suffer through computer glitches and loss of good service as the banks converge.

He added, however, that in the long term, the merger will result in a more cost-efficient institution and savings will then be passed on to customers.