BOATMEN'S TO OPEN ST. LOUIS LOAN CENTER

ST. LOUIS -- Boatmen's Bancshares is moving its retail loan service center to downtown St. Louis, but Boatmen's officials here say it won't affect local customers.

"We will still have our retail loan service center in Cape Girardeau," said Don Foley, a vice president in lending here. "People will still talk with their local bankers."

In fact, said Foley, Boatmen's has expanded its lending force here. "People can walk into the main bank on William Street, or into the branch facility downtown, and arrange for a loan," he said.

Loan officers are available at each branch facility here. "Consumers here will still be dealing with their hometown bankers," said Foley. "We're doing here what they will be doing in St. Louis."

The new center at St. Louis is scheduled for operations in mid-July, and will consolidate as many as 54 separate loan processing operations into one facility, which will use about 300 employees.

Regional service center employees will handle retail loan operations for more than 500 bank locations, mostly in the metropolitan areas of St. Louis and Kansas City, and in nearby Illinois, Boatmen's officials said.

Boatmen's Bancshares considered locating in seven other cities before deciding on St. Louis. Boatmen's is leasing 145,000 square feet of a building that was previously occupied by Southwestern Bell.