FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With a surge in Internet banking, growth in automatic teller machines and a tight economy, you might think that new branches would be far from the focus of banks today.
But many of the country's big banks are opening more offices to try to sell existing customers more services beyond checking or savings accounts. They're now peddling the gamut from loans to investment funds, stock brokerage to insurance -- activities once off-limits to banking companies.
