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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995                   TAG: 9505050105
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

CHICAGO - First Chicago Corp.'s competitors are having a field day with the bank's new $3 fee for customers who use a human teller instead of a machine. The banks are lampooning the policy in marketing and advertising campaigns.

Several area banks are paying - not charging - customers who visit their teller windows, and some say account openings have surged in the week since First Chicago announced the change.

Tellers at suburban Lake Forest Bank & Trust Co. were giving $3 to customers after their transactions were finished last week, and First American Bank offered people $10 to switch accounts.

``Banking is still a people business,'' said a Harris Bankcorp spokeswoman. New-account activity at Harris was up 80 percent to 100 percent in the week after the announcement, she said.

First Chicago, the city's biggest bank and the 10th largest in the country, drew national attention with its April 25 announcement that it will charge some low-balance checking customers $3 for teller transactions they could have made at an ATM or through a computerized bank-by-phone system.

First Chicago Chairman Richard Thomas was not amused by the hoopla. ``Some of those banks are looking a little silly,'' he said. ``I think some of them will regret later what they're doing.''

- Associated Press

Reebok settles price-fixing claims

WASHINGTON - Reebok, the nation's second-largest supplier of athletic and casual shoes, and its Rockport Co. subsidiary have agreed to settle price-fixing allegations.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement Thursday that would prohibit the companies from fixing the prices retailers use to advertise or sell their shoes.

In a separate action on behalf of the states, the National Association of Attorneys General said the companies have agreed to pay $9.5 million to help refurbish public athletic facilities and donate athletic equipment to organizations across the country.

Reebok International Ltd. of Stoughton, Mass., said it agreed to the settlements to avoid lengthy and costly litigation. It admitted no wrongdoing or liability.

- Associated Press