Bankers have good reason for being paranoid at times. Now is one of those times: As a lot of the old rules and relationships change, in marches UPS to deliver essential capital, which may not be directly linked to its transportation or logistic services. Financial Institutions (FIs) now have nontraditional competitors to deal with-it's not just GE Capital that is capturing corporate clients with innovative financing deals.

Recently recognized by Fortune magazine as one of "America's most admired" companies, UPS has long been known as a leading global transportation company. However, its expanding role in enabling global commerce may irk some of the largest FIs, like Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase. Its UPS Capital division, with its recent acquisition of First International Bancorp, is the reason why. If UPS Capital made them uneasy before the acquisition, now they are downright disturbed. UPS Capital already had a compelling message and financial services product. Right out there on its Website, in black and white, any corporate treasurer could have read this seductive entreaty: "Count on us for financial products and services to advance your company's performance, momentum, and value." Yikes! That goes way beyond facilitating C.O.D. and getting critical packages to far-off destinations on time.

Prior to the acquisition, the UPS Capital roster of financial services included the usual suspects: equipment leasing and asset-based lending, which, by the way, is reminiscent of how GE Capital started luring in the corporates. But that's not the half of it. From the get-go, UPS Capital has been aggressively expanding its products to encompass accounts receivable financing, inventory finance (lines of credit), accounts receivable purchasing (factoring), credit insurance, and trade finance.

With First International, UPS Capital joins the game with nearly 100 loan officers and a much broader set of financial services products. It also becomes a potentially more troublesome adversary, with its new lineup to include structured trade finance, additional commercial lending capability, and strength in Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and export-import bank financing. Traditionally First International served small and midsize businesses, so UPS Capital will have downstream strength, as well.