FIRSTAR SIGNS ARE NOW REPLACING MERCANTILE SIGNS ACROSS AREA

Firstar is in and Mercantile out.

Firstar Bank logos started making an appearance in the area last week. New, green-and-white Firstar logos have taken the Mercantile out of signs on banks, in-store locations, automated teller machines and other places that previously designated Mercantile banks.

"But the service remains the same," said Steve Dale of Firstar, a regional banking corporation with more than 1,200 full-service banking offices. "Customers can still use Mercantile Bank checks."

When customers run out of checks and reorder, they will receive Firstar checks.

The new signs are a result of Firstar Corporation's acquisition of Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. last September. The acquisition made Firstar the nation's 15th largest bank.

Name changes started in Illinois, moved into Kentucky and Arkansas, and only recently to Missouri. The new logos will continue to take place in other Mercantile markets, including northern Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.

"We plan to have all the signage transitions completed by late spring," said Dale.

Firstar may be unfamiliar to many Mercantile customers, said Thomas Fitzsimmons, regional division head for Missouri. "We're looking forward to introducing customers to all of our products and services," said Fitzsimmons.

Customers soon will have 24-hour customers service seven days a week with live customer service representatives plus the new ATMs, many which offer features like postage stamps, long-distance minutes and a mini-statement of account activity.

The Firstar name is being introduced to Mercantile customers one market at a time.

During the name change process, customers are dealing with the same employees and have the same set of products and services. The current checking, savings and money market account numbers won't change.

Firstar, founded in 1853, is a regional bank-holding company with approximately $73 billion in assets. Firstar has nearly 1,200 full-service banking offices and more than 2,200 ATM locations in Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kansas, Arizona and Florida.