CUSTOMER-FRIENDLY TECHNOLOGY TANTALIZING TO FUTURE OF BANKING

These are some recent newspaper headlines:

'Mercantile garners mega-bank status; merges with Roosevelt Financial Group.'

'Union Planters seeks to merge three area branches'

'NationsBank completes merger with Boatmen's'

'Banks are 'banking' on Perryville's future.

Mergers of banks into large financial entities with staggering amounts of capital and assets are not a trend only fashionable to the '90s -- mergers are probably as old as paper money.

And mergers will continue into the 21st century, predict six area banking industry experts. Even so, they say, there will always be a niche for locally owned, locally managed community banks.

And common to mega-banks and quaint, small-town operations are an increasing use of customer-friendly technology.

That technology includes direct deposit, debit or check cards, home-based banking, use of the Internet and automatic teller machines. Are we destined to be a cashless society? The general consensus is no -- banking officials say too many people like the feel of green paper in their hand.

At South East Missouri Bank in Cape Girardeau, marketing director Larry Reiminger says the creation of the Internet makes for "an entirely new playing field" in banking. Because customers like convenience, more and more on-line banking is in the future.

"A local customer can use the Internet to do business with a bank in New York or with their hometown bank right here," Reiminger said. "Funds can be transferred and loans applied for, all from a person's home."

Reiminger says direct deposit of payroll checks is becoming increasingly common, and the federal government is encouraging senior citizens to have their Social Security checks direct deposited, and direct deposit is the rule for military personnel.

"People can save maybe $50 a year by direct deposit because the money is in their account quicker so it is gaining interest quicker. And direct deposit is safe and convenient."

Reiminger says a "push is under way" for debit cards, also called check cards. They have been widely accepted by customers at his bank and the bank is having "great success with them."

Although Reiminger acknowledges there will always be people who will insist on writing checks, check cards can be used at grocery stores and other businesses. With these cards, money spent is almost immediately deducted from the person's account.

Troy Wilson, chief operating officer at First National Bank in Sikeston, says area employees like the benefits of direct deposits and are asking employers to participate.

"The federal government wants out of checks by 1999, but some people will still want to see their checks."

The use of check cards is on the increase at the bank because, says Wilson, a person doesn't have to carry cash, and the cards are safe and convenient. Merchants also like them.

At Commerce Bank in Cape Girardeau, Cord Polen, community bank president, calls direct deposit "the wave of the future." He also says home computers will be used more in conducting banking business.

"Technology is evolving and making new things possible. Much of it centers around convenience."

Polen says check cards are being used more and more, especially by younger people. Again, it is a matter of convenience. And merchants like them better than checks because they can't be "bounced."

Robin Pace, marketing officer for Mercantile Bank of Sikeston, says the computer age is well established in banking, helping to mainstream operations, but Mercantile still prides itself on one-to-one contact with customers.

"There are more and more direct deposits being made because it cuts down on the risk of people losing checks, and people tend to look on direct deposits favorably. But we still cash a lot of payroll checks for folks."

At Boatmen's Bank in Cape Girardeau, Jim Limbaugh, recently named regional executive director of the Southeast Missouri/Southern Illinois Region after the bank's January buyout by NationsBank, echoes other area banking officials. The federal government mandates direct deposit for employees of more and more government departments.

"Direct deposit eliminates paper and paper costs money," Limbaugh said.

Check cards will continue to gain in popularity, but Limbaugh doesn't foresee a future free from checkbooks. "There will always be checks but less of them."

Retta Miller, vice president of marketing at Union Planters in Cape Girardeau, says electronics technology will continue to create better service for bank customers.

Agreeing with other area bank officials that direct deposit, check cards and use of home computers will continue to increase into the 21st century, Miller says her bank has laid the groundwork for another banking breakthrough.

"We offer an electronic service called UP Tax-Net, which allows customers to pay their taxes via touch-tone phone."

She said the IRS has mandated that people having a tax liability of $50,000 or more will have to pay electronically and, by 1999, all businesses will be mandated to pay taxes electronically.

Grocery store banks, anyone? Miller says banks in the West are establishing outlets in grocery stores -- and the trend is headed this way.

"We want to be where customers want us to be," she said. "It's to accommodate the fast-paced life.

Automatic teller machines have been around a while and are expected to increase in number. But can they be improved on by the 21st century?

Customers in low-slung sports cars have to reach high to access the instructions and grab their money. Drivers of pickup trucks with oversize tires have to reach down. It's a big stretch either way.

Will someone invent an ATM that adjusts to the height of the driver's window? That is a question yet to be answered.