Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at Harvard Business School "Students have had a dominant bank for a long time, and in a sense they will still have that. This isn't an area where we are over-branched," Crane said.
Still, Crane recognized the importance of Harvard Square's small banks.
"You need them there to keep prices in line for the big ones," Crane said. "You don't want a monopoly."
Crane explained the new deal as part of a larger trend in banking.
"One of the issues that banks face is the need for large spending on technologies. That is one of the reasons banks are merging--you have to be bigger to have the money to spend," Crane said. "Some of these new Internet technologies will be helpful to students."
Brian W. Smith '02 said he would love to use the Web to transfer funds easily to his hometown bank in Oklahoma.
But it may be awhile before students feel the effects of the merger. According to Gifford, the companies will not be fully combined until 2001.
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