European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 17, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday december 17, 1994 i1 merchants  writer Hanau Germany sgt. Michael Hill has som advice for would be merchants National Bank custom ers in the Hanau area if you can t be first in line when the Bank opens saturday morning Don t go at All. If you re not in Here first you la spend your morning in line said Hill who works for the 414th base sup port in in Hanau. I won t go to the Bank on a sat  but said merchants Bank officials such cases Are rare thanks to a Bank plan to Speed customer service. At the same time the . Army Europe is also target ing Long lines As a Quality of life Issue. The army announced Quality of life standards dec. 6that Call for Banks to serve customers within 10 minutes on Normal Days 20 minutes during paydays and pea customer periods. Merchants officials during interviews in Heidelberg Germany  already meet the Standard in most cases. And while there Are some Bank branches in Europe where customers May wait longer those Are rare instances. I think we even exceed the standards said Glenn Smith merchants director of worldwide banking visit ing Germany from the Bank s Headquarters in Indiana Polis. The standards just formalize what we already  european banking general manager Jim Overbe said the Bank placed a priority on trimming waiting times about two years ago. This is something we be been striving to meet Overbey said referring to the plan that the Bank implemented at least two years ago. It s not just  it is we be worked to this goal for some time. Servicing military customers is a High priority for theban because service members account for nearly $1 Bil lion in annual deposits to the Bank and 68 of Mer chants 130 worldwide branches Are in Europe Smith said /.  " -. Before the draw Down began in 1991, a Bank Survey scrutinized waiting times and customer service. Predictably customers weren t always Happy with the time they spent in the Bank said Carl a Nderson usar eur s banking Liaison. In some areas there were problems Anderson said. Now we re getting feedback from family Force forums first sergeants commanders and customers. We re on the right  to trim waiting times the Bank is turning to Automa Tion. In Europe for example merchants recently in stalled a computer system at Teller windows to give the tellers instant Access to client , tellers often were forced to leave their win Dows to look up information. Now the Bank saves time the stars and stripes Lineson chief Teller in charge Rainer Bravin right helps spec. Weymann Austin at Kelley Barracks in Darmstadt Germany. By putting information at the Teller s fingertips Over Bey said. Also 160 automatic Teller machines in Europe Are easing the line Burden Smith said. When merchants won the army contract in 1988, the Bank moved to in stall More Teller machines across the command. For spec. Frank Trautmann assigned to Fliege Horst Cavern near Hanau Teller machines have become his main form of banking. / i rarely go in the Bank so i Don t notice a problem with waiting Trautmann said. The Only time i go inhere is to do wire transfers or maybe make a  automation also helps customers by relieving some of the additional work piling up on merchants reduce staff As a result of the draw Down of forces Smith said. Roughly 90 percent of merchants Europe operations employees Are military family members he said of about 1,100 Bank employees in Europe 715 work in Germany and most Are family members. As soldiers leave the theater so do family members which shrinks the number of employees who can serve remaining customers Smith said. Both Overbey and Smith conceded that there will betimes when the Bank line is slower and customers wait longer than the army Standard but they said they be Lieve the wait on average will be Short. You cannot adopt something that says no single person will Ever wait More than 10 minutes Smith said. There Are circumstances that do occur that Are outside the control of the Bank outside the control of the command that will Impact an operation on any  v.  Anderson said such problems will always exist especially in a time when budgets Are getting tighter fewer customers Are walking through the door and the likelihood of hiring More tellers is Remote. But the Challenge he said is still there and he believes the Bank is on the right track to Cut waiting times. A a " ,.  -. There will be times when you go right to the Teller or you May wait awhile Anderson said. On the aver age i think we get pretty close to the  Bymark Kinkade staff writer Heidelberg Germany Mer chants National Bank officials Are keep ing a lid on their plans to improve Cus Tomer service until the defense department decides if the Bank will keep its military contract. The current contract with the Dod expires in March. The Pentagon extended the original contract which ran out oct. 1. ". In Europe merchants operates Bank branches in Germany the Netherlands the United kingdom and Iceland. Glenn Smith director of merchants worldwide banking operations recently visited Germany from the Bank s head quarters in Indianapolis. I hate to be evasive but right now we Are in the midst of a contract negotiation Smith said during a visit to a Mer chants Branch in Heidelberg. I would Only say we have put Forward several ideas that we think would be improvements to the service level and i would just As soon not elaborate on those due to the competitive nature of the con  Smith s comments came in response to questions about whether merchants was considering allowing customers to Banksia Telephone. Since merchants began operations in Europe the Bank has extended operating hours added Teller machines and laced together a network of Teller operated information computers to Speed customer service he said. Two Banks merchants National Bank of Indiana and nation Bank of Texas Are competing for the contract to operate banking facilities in overseas military communities. Merchants began servicing Europe based troops in 1988, and operates Banks in South Korea an Panama As Well. Nation Bank operates in Japan and Okinawa. While the overseas military banking contract traditionally has been split be tween the two companies defense department officials would not Rule out the possibility that either merchants or a Tion Bank could win a worldwide con tract. -. Marshall Center graduates its first class by the stars and stripes Garmisch Parzen Kirchen Germany calling it a Day of signal achievement . Sen. Richard g. Lugar Rind congratulated 76 students from 23 nations who on wednesday became the first graduates of the College of strategic studies and de sense economics at the George c. Marshall euro Pean Center for Security studies. You will be ambassadors of cooperative engagement and cooperative threat reduction in Europe Lugar told the students. The challenges of transition to democracy Are evident and formidable but the yearnings of the Peoples we serve for free Dom for peace that allows Normal and constructive living and for responsible far sighted leadership is much More  the Marshall Center is operated by the . Euro Pean come with support from the government of Germany. Or. Alvin h. Bernstein director of the Marshall Center said the organization s efforts Are a Long term investment for the Security of Europe. It s not a Quick turnaround Bernstein said. During the five month course that began in a gust students studied How democratic nations Organ ize control and provide for their armed forces under civilian leadership. Students get both theory and practical experience. Classes Are taught in English German and russian. The students included 53 senior military officers and 23 civilian defense officials from 21 of the 23 nations of the North Atlantic cooperation Council a Council of former Warsaw pact countries and former soviet Union nations and nato members Germany and the United states. Students came from the countries of Albania Armenia Belarus Bulgaria the czech Republic Esto Nia Georgia Hungary Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan lat via Lithuania Moldova Poland Romania Russia Slovakia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine and Uzbekistan As Well As the United states and Germany. The second class is to Start feb. 2, comprised of about 80 students