Bank of the West finishes purchase

It's now the name on Commercial Federal Bank branches.

A big bear has muscled its way into Iowa, as Bank of the West introduced its distinctive logo with its official takeover Monday of Commercial Federal Bank.

San Francisco-based Bank of the West is re-branding all Commercial Federal offices in Iowa with its name. One of the bank's goals is to make major inroads into agricultural lending, as it is one of the nation's largest lenders to farmers and ranchers.

"That's something we would like to try to leverage" in new territory where the bank will operate as a result of buying Omaha-based Commercial Federal, Bank of the West spokesman Bob Wolff said.

Wolff said he doesn't anticipate any staffing changes in Iowa, where Commercial Federal was one of the state's largest banking institutions. The combined banks will amass $54 billion in assets, making Bank of the West the third-largest bank based west of the Mississippi River.

Wolff said Bank of the West will try to combine the best strengths of both banks. Besides its ag-lending position, Bank of the West also is the nation's largest lender to religious institutions. Also, as a major player in commercial real estate lending, the bank intends to maintain that role in its new states.

Although Bank of the West hasn't been a force in home-mortgage lending, Commercial Federal has a lot of experience in that arena. Bank of the West will continue that work with home-lending offices based in Omaha.

Bank of the West has 47 offices in Iowa: 44 from the Commercial Federal acquisition and three from its 2004 purchase of a North Dakota banking company.

Bank of the West has aggressively acquired banks in recent years. Chairman Don McGrath said the company has a strategy "to add more locations to our network, both by acquisition and by locating new branches in high-growth communities."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.