LOS ANGELES, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The opening this month of three more Comerica banking centers in Southern California capped another year of growth for the Dallas-based bank. Ten of the 14 new banking centers opened in 2008 in California were in five Southern California counties, including four new offices in Los Angeles and three new offices in San Diego County.

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Comerica Bank, one of the 20th largest banks in the U.S., also opened its second banking center in Carlsbad, at El Camino Real and Hosp, on Nov. 24, and its third banking center in Long Beach, at 6451 E. Pacific Coast Highway and 2nd St., on Dec. 15.

Vignette Matthews is the manager of the new Carlsbad office located at 1000 Aviara Parkway. LaTonya Perez-Wright, former assistant manager of the Comerica Bank office at Torrance Towne Center, is the manager of the new Long Beach banking center located at 6451 E. Pacific Coast Highway #17.

The new office in Los Angeles' Koreatown area at 635 S. Hobart Blvd. is managed by Kevin Sung, a California State Northridge graduate. Sung is fluent in Korean and is a 12-year banking veteran. The banking center opened Dec. 16.

The manager of the new office in San Diego's Hillcrest is Jose Alonzo Ortiz who is fluent in Spanish. The banking center is located in the heart of the Fifth Avenue business district at 412 Washington St. Ortiz is a University of San Diego graduate, with 10 years of banking experience. This location opened on Dec. 17.

"California continues to be an important market for Comerica Bank, and we continue to identify concentrations of thriving small businesses -- such as the business districts in Koreatown in Los Angeles, or in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego -- as great locations to offer our wide array of financial services," said Betty Rengifo Tucker, executive vice president and manager of Comerica Bank's retail banking in its Western Market.

Comerica, whose predecessor bank was founded in Michigan in 1849, offers complete checking and FDIC-insured deposit accounts, financial planning expertise, on-the-job banking and other business services, and convenient Saturday hours at its new locations.

Comerica now has 53 banking centers in Southern California, and 12 in Arizona and 43 in Northern California.

About Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated , a Dallas-based company strategically aligned into three major business segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping businesses and people be successful. In addition to Arizona and California, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Florida, Michigan and Texas, with select businesses operating in several other states, Canada, China and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $65.2 billion at September 30, 2008. To receive e-mail alerts of breaking Comerica news, go to http://www.comerica.com/newsalerts. (Or, for more information, go to http://www.comerica.com.)

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SOURCE: Comerica Bank

Web site: http://www.comerica.com/