T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. has filed an application with federal regulators in Washington to open a savings bank.

The country's 12th largest mutual fund company is experiencing "increased competition in attracting and maintaining customers" because commercial banks are offering mutual funds along with an array of savings and investment products, the Baltimore-based company said in a document filed with the Office of Thrift Supervision.

"We believe we can offer our customers a competitive banking product," said David Oestreicher, associate legal counsel at Price.

Oestreicher said the Oct. 5 filing was not a reaction to the swooning stock market.

"It is something we have thought about for a while," he said.

T. Rowe Price Savings Bank plans to offer customers nationwide deposit products, which could include certificates of deposit, Oestreicher said.

It could take nine months to receive approval. The thrift will not engage in lending, the document said.

Competitor Legg Mason Inc. filed papers last May to charter its own savings bank.

Pub Date: 10/10/98