
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993                   TAG: 9308130151
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FALL CHANGES LEAVES AND OTHER THINGS

First Union Corp. said Thursday it expects to spend $7.4 million replacing signs on offices it has acquired to form its new Virginia bank.

Dominion Bank branches in the Roanoke Valley will get First Union National Bank signs during the Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 9-11, a period when the banks will be closed for the federal holiday.

First Union Corp. received bids Thursday on converting all of the signs in the metropolitan area. The project averages $15,000 a branch, so the cost for just the Roanoke Valley will be $330,000.

The bank's computer systems in the Roanoke Valley will change at the same time, linking branches here to First Union's seven-state system.

That link means customers will be able to cash checks at any First Union Bank from North Carolina to Florida, said First Union spokesman David Scanzoni. Customers will not be able to deposit money at the bank's offices outside the state because interstate deposits are forbidden by law.

Sign and computer conversion will happen Dec. 10 in other markets where First Union has recently acquired banks - Washington, D.C., Maryland, Northern Virginia, Richmond and Tidewater. Scanzoni said it will take that long to convert former First American branches in those areas to First Union's computer system. All branches in those communities, including Dominion's, will change at the same time.

Not included in the $7.4 million cost are signs on two downtown Roanoke buildings - the Dominion Tower and the Dominion Bank building. The bank leases space in those structures from the buildings' owners, and Scanzoni said those signs will be handled separately by the end of the year.

The figure does include the flashing message in front of the Roanoke Civic Center, which will be converted to advertise First Union.

Scanzoni said the civic center plans a new inside scoreboard and First Union is interested in bidding on the advertising space on that equipment.

When the signs are changed in October, he said, First Union will send customers new credit cards and automated teller machine cards in the First Union name. Existing Dominion cards can be used until then.

And First Union will mail a letter to 400,000 customers in the next two weeks explaining that customers should use their existing Dominion checks, deposit slips and withdrawal slips until supplies are exhausted.

Another letter sent a few days ago to credit card customers asked them to choose between no-fee or lower-interest accounts.

First Union acquired Dominion Bankshares Corp. of Roanoke in March but has continued to operate under the Dominion name until the two institutions' computers were aligned.

by CNB