The banks clearly see advantages for themselves, starting with stock prices that are already soaring. The banks may realize economies of scale, of course, enabling them to cut costs. They will be in a better position to acquire crucial new technologies, and most important perhaps, their increased size should enable them to compete more effectively in global markets, some made recently accessible by the end of the Cold War. Some of the employees are out of luck.
Mergers mean job cuts.
Fees will remain Customers can expect to see their fees stay steep with or without mergers, it has been noted. The old-fashioned way that banks made money, by lending it at far higher interest rates than they paid to depositors, has worked less well during a time of low interest rates generally. And so, banks have looked more to fees to secure their profits. As a plus for customers, the mergers should facilitate one-stop shopping for such items as insurance and mutual funds in addition to ordinary banking services. Travelers Group Inc. On the other hand, some shiver at the thought of what it might be like, for example, when Banc One Corp. and First Chicago NBD Corp. join to become the banking colossus of the Midwest.