DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710170823

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   41 lines

WACHOVIA BANK WILL OPEN SERVICE CENTER

The bank-card unit of Wachovia Bank plans to open a customer service center in the Greenbrier area, the Winston-Salem, N.C., bank said Thursday.

Wachovia said it expects the facility on Crossways Boulevard to employ 100 people by the end of 1998 and initially will occupy one-quarter of the 50,000-square-foot building already being used by Central Fidelity Banks Inc., Wachovia said.

Wachovia is in the process of acquiring Central Fidelity, the Richmond-based parent of Central Fidelity National Bank. Its mergers with Central Fidelity and Jefferson Bankshares Inc., the Charlottesville-based parent of Jefferson National Bank, are due to be completed by the year's end. Wachovia plans to open the service center in Chesapeake in early 1998, the company said.

About 40 people currently operate a customer service center in the building for Central Fidelity. Those employees will be candidates for the new jobs, said Susan Mistr, a spokeswoman for Central Fidelity.

``The decision to establish this center is indicative of the growth of our credit card function and the need for additional capacity for providing customer service to our credit card customers,'' Wachovia Chief Executive L.M. Baker Jr. said in a statement.

``We are pleased to locate the center in Chesapeake where we will be able to provide continuing employment opportunities for some employees of Central Fidelity and Jefferson.''

Wachovia declined to comment on the status of other office and customer service operations in Hampton Roads. Paul E. Mason, a Wachovia spokesman, said all 60 Central Fidelity and 14 Jefferson bank branches are expected to become Wachovia branches.

Wachovia has one office in Norfolk. The company, with assets exceeding $60 billion, will become the 17th largest bank holding company in the nation if mergers with Central Fidelity, Jefferson and 1st United Bancorp of Boca Raton, Fla., are approved. ILLUSTRATION: [Wachovia logo]

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