By all outward appearances, Fast 'n Friendly Check Cashing's first Baltimore-area store will appear to be nothing more than just another check-cashing shop, part of a much-maligned industry that has thrived on catering to customers who aren't adequately served by banks.
But hidden behind the eye-catching logo, the well-lighted interior and the bulletproof glass will beat the heart of a commercial bank: Provident Bank of Maryland's, to be exact.
When its first store opens next month near Golden Ring Mall, Provident will become the first bank in Maryland, and one of a very few in the nation, to own and operate a separate check-cashing company.
Though check cashers meet a critical need in many low-income neighborhoods, they have been criticized for charging exorbitant fees. Provident contends those high costs aren't necessary.
"We know we can make money off this without having to gouge," said Louis R. Taylor, managing director of community banking for Provident Bankshares Corp., the Baltimore parent company of the bank.
The first Fast 'n Friendly store will open about the second week of March on Fontana Lane, across from the eastern Baltimore County mall. The second will open not long after in the Edmondson Village Shopping Center in West Baltimore.
If the first few stores are successful, Provident intends to open a total of eight or nine during the next two years, most in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods that are not well-served by banks, Mr. Taylor said. Provident has 43 branches and $2.3 billion in assets.
"About 25 percent, in some marketplaces, of the people do not use financial institutions for varying reasons," Mr. Taylor said. Either they don't trust banks, they can't afford to maintain a savings or checking account, or they live in neighborhoods where banks are nonexistent.
"So we decided there was a market where we could provide a service for a fee, but less of a fee than the other services offer," Mr. Taylor said.
Fast 'n Friendly plans to charge between $5 and $7.50 to first-time customers for a computer-coded membership card, and between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent of the face value of the check. That compares with an average of about 2 percent or 3 percent for most other check cashers, he said.
Depending on the type of check, some cashers charge fees that can run to 10 percent or more of the check's value.
The check-cashing industry is largely untested waters for big commercial banks. About a year ago, Union Bank, a California company with $16 billion in assets, set up Cash & Save, a check-cashing service in one of its branches, for people without a Union Bank checking or savings account. In June, it opened a freestanding Cash & Save store that also offers the full range of traditional bank services. Spokeswoman Joanne Curran said the company was unaware of any other bank in the nation that has followed its lead.
Fast 'n Friendly won't offer Provident's products or services, anyou won't see the Provident name anywhere in the establishment. It will offer money orders, wire transfers, prepaid telephone cards, fax and photocopying services and maybe even a bill-paying service, Mr. Taylor said.
He said Fast 'n Friendly will rely on high technology to beat the competition on price. When customers first sign up, all their vital statistics will be checked, via computer, with credit bureaus, the Social Security Administration and the Motor Vehicle Administration. The computer also will photograph the customer that a teller will be able to call up the photo verification on later visits.
All this will help cut down on fraud, Mr. Taylor explained. The system will read each check and give the teller a thumbs up or down. It will also dispense the exact payment to the teller from an ATM-like machine, denying employees access to a cash register and cutting down on employee theft, he said.
Fast 'n Friendly will be competing in a fragmented business. In the Baltimore area, check-cashing shops are owned by local independent operators, small regional chains and a handful of national operators. ACE: America's Cash Express, the Dallas-based company that runs the nation's biggest chain of check cashers, had a mixed reaction to Provident's plan.
"I think it's very interesting that banks, who have long disparaged check cashing, now are considering going into the business," said Eric Norrington, vice president for marketing at ACE.
"It's not all bad, though," he added, "because I think there are some people who have bought into the propaganda that check cashing is some sort of second-class activity."
He said Provident's entry "upgrades the whole business."