In an unusual move to expand its business services footprint, Anheuser-Busch Employees' Credit Union has signed an agreement to serve the existing retail and business customers of Stifel Bank and Trust.

The $1.2 billion ABECU in St. Louis signed a purchase and assumption agreement with the bank that will allow it to offer its 550 customers the same services available to members, including branch and ATM network access beginning May 1. The CU will continue to offer business account services that Stifel Bank offered its business clients before the agreement. Those products include one-to-four family investment properties, business mortgages, lines of credit, installment loans, checking, interest checking, certificates of deposit and business investment funds.

"Timing is everything. Stifel Bank and Trust decided that offering retail services and having a retail location did not fit into their long-term strategy," said Pier Alsup, senior vice president of marketing and business development at ABECU. "The credit union was interested in the acquisition since it would allow us to enter the business loan sector with an established book of business"