FINANCE Bank One drops $3 teller fees at its Chicago-area branches

An official admits it hasn't done a good job in Chicago.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Bank One Corp. said its Chicago-area customers and those in five other cities will no longer have to pay $3 to deal with tellers, eliminating a controversial policy that drew national attention in the mid-1990s.
The removal of the fee, which was effective last week, is part of Chicago-based Bank One's effort to improve customer service and win back disgruntled local customers.
"We've been presumptuous about our market share here," Bank One retail chief Charlie Scharf said. "We haven't done a great job in Chicago."
Competitors lampooned the teller fee after First Chicago Corp., Bank One's predecessor, started charging the fee in 1995.
Competitors' ploys
Instead of charging customers, some other banks gave $3 to customers after their transactions while others offered money to those who switched accounts. Although some banks jumped on the teller-fee bandwagon, the practice "never really caught on," said industry consultant Bert Ely.
LaSalle Bank, which charges customers a $1.50 teller fee on certain accounts, said it may review its policy. A spokesman for Harris Bank, which charges $2 per assisted transaction on some accounts, would only say that the company would continue to review its business needs.
Officials for Fifth Third, US Bancorp and Wells Fargo said their banks don't charge teller fees.
Expansion
Bank One also announced plans to spend more than $75 million over the next two years to open more than 30 new branches, add 70 automated teller machines, launch a new free checking account service and implement longer hours at some local branches. Spokeswoman Calmetta Coleman said the changes are the result of technology improvements that include linking all Bank One branches in 14 states to the same computer system.
Bank One also lifted teller fees in Rockford and the Indiana cities of Merrillville, Elkhart, Gary and South Bend, Coleman said, adding that the change affects about 1.2 million customers. She said officials "are still assessing" whether to lift teller fees in other markets.
Bank One currently operates 4,100 ATMs and 1,800 branches nationwide, Tom Kelly said. It is the country's sixth-largest bank holding company, with assets of more than $270 billion.