Customers Won’t Feel Effects Now

Because the Bank of America-Security Pacific merger is not expected to clear regulatory hurdles for six months, customers of the two banks will see no immediate changes in their banking relationships, bank representatives said Monday.

Once the merger is completed, certain customers--particularly those now banking with Security Pacific--may see changes in the fees they pay, in the interest rates they earn on deposits, and in where and with whom they do their banking.

However, it will cost Security Pacific customers nothing to have their accounts switched to Bank of America, spokeswoman Deborah Lewis said. She had no details about how the conversion would work, but she said the bank would contact all customers and explain it.

“The process will be done for them, it’ll be easy and it’ll cost them nothing,” Lewis said.

B of A checks will be provided free of charge to Security Pacific checking customers, she said.

“The immediate impact on existing Bank of America customers will be nil,” Bank of America spokesman Russ Yarrow said.

Yarrow said no decisions have been made on the numbers of branches to be closed and employees to be laid off after the merger. He also could not say whether, for instance, businesses or consumers will face changes in lending policies. One bright spot: Both banks now charge customers a fee to use each other’s automatic teller machines. After the merger, those fees will be eliminated, Yarrow said.