MBA 820 - Refelctions on Module 5

What experiences have you had with commercial banks? Describe.
My experiences with banks are through personal and business checking, mortgages for personal and business, as well as loans for cars and personal lines of credit. They provide a service that is adequate for most issues, etc. The on-line banking has come a long way and makes it much easier to access and obtain information quickly. They also issue credit cards, which allow personal and business to acquire noncollateralized debt, which is helpful in many transactions. Floating debt helps a small business equalize cash flow, etc and allows large purchases to be spread out over time.

What have you observed about a merger/acquisition in the commercial bank sector in your geographic region?
The most recent one was Hunnington Bank acquiring Skybank. But there has been numerous mergers over time. First USA is now part of Chase, which is part of JP Morgan-Chase. MBA has been snapped up by Bank of America. You are also seeing Fifth Third and National City spreading into Florida and other states. Also these banks, due to the deregulation, offer financial services and retirement planning services. Their services offer the purchase of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. They do not offer direct insurance plans, but offer life insurance etc through independent quotes etc on the open market. All of this allow the consumer to have all of their accounts in one place, which helps when transferring money from one account/place to another. Accounts/monies in different institutions cause lags in your availability to your money.