Rivalry you can bank onCharlotte, and its workers, are divided by two financial giantsCHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For employees at Bank of America's headquarters, lunch time presents geographic as well as culinary challenges. Workers must choose whether to walk a couple of blocks to the city's most popular sandwich shops, which happen to be clustered near the headquarters of Wachovia Corp., Bank of America's cross-town rival.
Mostly, they choose not to go. "There's almost a dividing point," said Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America's chief executive. "That's Wachovia territory. That's Bank of America territory." Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. have mushroomed quickly into the nation's first- and fourth-largest banks, respectively, when ranked by deposits. As a result, this small Southern metropolitan area of about 1.5 million people has become the nation's biggest banking center outside of New York. And the banks are still growing: Bank of America acquired New England's largest bank, FleetBoston Financial Corp., this spring, and Wachovia negotiated a deal in June to acquire SouthTrust Corp. of Alabama. In one part of downtown Charlotte, an army of workers sporting Bank of America pins, briefcases, and red company ties line up five deep at the Bank of America ATM, next to the Bank of America Plaza, across the street from the Bank of America Corporate Center and just down the way from the Bank of America parking garage. They can see Bank of America Stadium from their offices. The most popular accessory is not a Kate Spade purse or a Tiffany bracelet, but a red-and-blue Bank of America name tag, which goes smartly with the bankers' uniform of collared shirts and ties. Just four blocks away, past the East Trade Street dividing line on Wachovia's turf, the color scheme shifts a bit. The talk is still the same heady mixture of mutual funds, interest rates, and derivatives, but a blue-and-green Wachovia badge has replaced the Bank of America logo. Workers spill out from the nearby buildings, aptly named One Wachovia Center, Two Wachovia Center, and Three Wachovia Center. The contrast is so stark that some of the younger employees joke that their friends across town work "on the dark side." The only problem: Since both banks use that phrase, it is difficult to tell which side is dark. "I don't get up that way. It's terrible," said Patricia Deal, an executive assistant for Wachovia's fixed-income division, who says one of her favorite places happens to be the sushi restaurant at the base of the bank's corporate headquarters. Like many bank employees, she said, she could head to Bank of America's turf for lunch, but she rarely has time. In this compact downtown, one of every four people works for a bank. As the two banks have grown, they have attracted latte-drinking, dark suit-wearing Northerners. Dozens of former Fleet employees pour into Charlotte each week to attend Bank of America meetings, eat at the Palm Restaurant, which features a picture of Lewis on the wall near Farrah Fawcett's image, or even to move here. US Airways, the city's primary carrier, added an extra flight from Boston to Charlotte soon after the merger closed. But the Southerners say the newcomers are quickly learning some of their ways. "Northerners have become a little bit more interested in NASCAR, I really believe that," said Molly Hedrick, vice president of communications for Visit Charlotte, the convention and visitors bureau. "Your folks in New York see it's a whole lot of fun." Bank of America and Wachovia sponsor nearly every civic and cultural event around town, from big-screen outdoor movies to Chamber of Commerce events to the new basketball arena for the Charlotte Bobcats. Eloise Hale, a Bank of America spokeswoman, said the banks frequently team up to foster "a strong spirit of volunteerism and support." Wachovia agreed. "We are fierce, fierce competitors, but when it comes to supporting this community and other communities in which we do business, we're great collaborative partners," said Shannon McFayden, Wachovia's head of corporate and community affairs. But over the years, the competition between Bank of America and Wachovia has been heated. As the banks grew, they waged an all-out war for the skyline. First Union, the predecessor to Wachovia, built a 32-story tower in 1971. Three years later, the predecessor to Bank of America built 40 stories. First Union then unveiled a 42-story building. But Bank of America soon topped that with 60. The competition also manifests itself in more mundane shapes. Two years ago, Bank of America opened some Charlotte branches on Saturday. So did Wachovia. In 2002, Wachovia said it would sponsor a golf tournament on the PGA tour. Bank of America not only matched that, but with the addition of Fleet, it now sponsors two PGA events. "It's always one does bigger than the other," said Judson Gee, a Charlotte financial planner. "It's a lot of one-upmanship. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a Wachovia tower that's bigger than Bank of America's building." When Bank of America's Boston-based chairman, Chad Gifford, traveled to Charlotte recently, he and Lewis, the chief executive, ventured over to Wachovia's turf to scope out the competition. Lewis said the two of them stood for a moment in a hallway, watching the legions of workers with Wachovia badges pass by, then quickly left to go back to a Bank of America meeting. The rise of Charlotte as a banking hub goes back to the web of archaic banking regulations that, until recently, confined banks to their own states or even their own counties. Bank of America, then called North Carolina National Bank, discovered a loophole that allowed it to move across state lines to Florida. The Charlotte executives celebrated by dressing in military gear and hoisting a Florida state flag in the pose of Iwo Jima. The banks in Charlotte have not stopped growing since. As the banks expand, their executives have also accumulated wealth to spend on the growing number of upscale bars and restaurants around the city. Wachovia employees favor Charlotte's Mimosa Grill, with its Georgia hush puppies stuffed with rock shrimp and crawfish, while Bank of America executives sip "infused pineapple martinis" and nibble "morel and radiatore pasta" at Bistro 100. But despite the divide, employees occasionally venture to the other side. Capital Grille, an upscale restaurant near Bank of America's headquarters, entertains an equal measure of Bank of America and Wachovia executives, largely for client dinners, said John E. Silvia, Wachovia's chief economist. When employees cross the dividing line, he said, they do not take off their name tags. They flaunt them. "It's hilarious," he said. "They all wear their name badges. I don't think that happens in Boston."
Sasha Talcott can be reached at stalcott@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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