Chase makes takeover official

Washington Mutual is fading into banking history with the replacement of its signs at 39 Las Vegas area branches.

Chase Bank, which took over WaMu last year, celebrated the occasion on Monday at the branch at 6920 Arroyo Crossing Parkway in southwest Las Vegas.

Chase Bank has completed the conversion of WaMu's back office computers to its system and installed its logo where WaMu signs once hung.

Chase is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, which has $2 trillion in assets and operations in 60 countries. It received $25 billion under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program but repaid the government in June.

The giant New York-based bank holding company acquired WaMu from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in September 2008. The former WaMu branches in Southern Nevada and three other states were the last to be converted to the Chase computer system.

The conversion is expected to eliminate the difficulties some customers had doing business with the WaMu branches.

Spokesman Gary Kishner said a few customers encountered problems when they moved from a state where Chase had completed the conversion to Nevada where WaMu's computer system was still in place.

Chase now has about $1 billion in deposits from 750,000 Nevada customers and is competing with financial institutions, ranging from giants like Bank of America to regional banks and credit unions, Kishner said.

The New York bank will serve a broader market than did WaMu, which focused on consumer accounts and small businesses. Chase is expanding the Small Business Administration loan products it offers and also makes loans to middle-market business customers with annual revenues of $10 million to $500 million, as well as large corporations, Kishner said.

Chase offers free checking account services to consumers with direct deposit or five or more debit card transactions monthly. Customers can establish a minimum balance that triggers an alert by e-mail or text on a cell phone. They also may get alerts when checks larger than an amount specified by the customer are cleared.

The bank also offers private banking and investment management services that appeal to affluent customers.

Chase had no retail banking presence in Nevada before acquiring WaMu. It also established a presence in California, Oregon and Washington.

Chase has the leading share of bank deposits in Phoenix.

Chase employs 500 workers in Nevada and has three regional managers -- Elana Thornton, Patrick Thomas and Jose Basilio.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.