ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090033
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
Not all bankers rush full tilt into cyberland
HONOLULU - Go high-tech or wither, speakers as auspicious as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the 1,100-strong American Bankers Association convention.
``If you don't, you're basically toast, and punishment is swift,'' agreed convention speaker Don Tapscott, author of ``The Digital Economy.''
You might think conventioneers from the largest organization of U.S. banks would be rushing to be first in on-line banking, computerized marketing and other automated processes.
You would be wrong, especially at smaller banks.
William Seidman, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. under presidents Reagan and Ford, said his immediate reaction to Tapscott's presentation was: ``Thank God I'm old.''
``Don't panic,'' he told the bankers. ``It'll take plenty of time before your average customer gets there.''
Seidman, who ran the Resolution Trust Corp. when it began selling off the wreckage of the 1980s savings and loan debacle, said the now-flourishing bank industry had better watch for risks as well as new high-tech ways to market services. ``When the going gets tough, the tough get out of the way and let someone else do the dying,'' he said.
-Associated Press
Suit claims insurer misled customers
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A federal lawsuit claims Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. misled 378 customers who bought its whole-life policies.
The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Evansville, accuses Northwestern Mutual of including misleading and fraudulent information in sales promotion materials.
The insurer allegedly provided agents with illustrations that showed how much policyholders would receive in interest. But the clients were never told that, in order to earn those rates, they would have to keep their policy in force for 20 or 21 years, the lawsuit said.
-Associated Press
Barr Labs to launch full line of generics
Barr Laboratories Inc., Pomona, N.Y., a maker of generic drugs with plans to operate a manufacturing and distribution center in Bedford County, said Tuesday it will reintroduce Meperidine 100 milligram tablets, the generic equivalent of Demerol 100 mg. tablets. Barr said the move is the first in what will be a full line of generic pain-relief products.
-Staff report
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB