Banks Join the Fray Banks have lagged the major brokerage firms in offering full-service accounts to their customers. The banks have offered most, if not all of the products, but until recently, did not package them as a single solution. One reason for this is the cultural and political realities within many banks where senior managers have been concerned with only their own parochial interests. For instance, managers overseeing CD deposits were not concerned with mutual fund sales or vice versa. However, it is by no means too late for banks to enter the fray.
Banks still control a tremendous amount of consumer assets.
Indeed, banks increasingly will need to offer consolidated accounts if they hope to avert future asset losses. KeyCorp , through its Key Money Management Account, offers a product that can compete with the likes of Merrill Lynch and Schwab. The program offers a consolidated statement, checking, mortgage lending, and through an alliance with Schwab, a wide variety of investment products via Schwab's OneSource supermarket. The addition of fund supermarkets by many banks is a big step in the right direction. Offering multiple mutual fund options will be critical to banks' ability to retain client assets in the future.