Many financial institutions have new-media divisions. On Tuesday, Huntington National Bank became one of the first to declare cyberspace a geographic "region" on a par with other regional operations.
"We're treating this like a profit center ... just like our other six regions," said Huntington vice president Hillary Jeffers.
That means the Net has taken a place on the bank's organizational chart beside its 355 branches in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and West Virginia. Senior vice president William Randle will oversee the new "seventh region," which will include all electronic transactions.
Huntington National Bank is the main subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with some US$21 billion in assets. The company recently announced its acquisition of First Michigan Bank and Orlando, Florida-based Bank of Winter Park.
Jeffers said cyberspace operate the same as Huntington's other regions, except for certain accounting measurements to accommodate the fact that the seventh region has no actual borders.
