The erstwhile Laurel Federal Credit Union is being forced to spend more than $80,000 changing names — again — five years after becoming Avanta FCU. Last year, Advanta Bank in Utah, enforced its federally-registered trademark on the word “Advanta” by giving the Montana-based credit union one year to change names or face a lawsuit.
“We thought we’d done due diligence before, but the attorney said it is close enough and you won’t win,” said Tracy DuFresne, VP of HR and Marketing for the credit union, in an interview.
Advanta Bancorp has held a federal trademark on Advanta since 1987.
The shift to Altana becomes official on July 1. The credit union says the bulk of the $80,000 cost will be spent changing the signs inside- and out on its seven branch locations.
Key Question: What about lawyers’ fees? And five years after becoming Avanta, won’t everything need to be replaced — debit cards, credit cards, business cards, forms, brochures, website, merchandising, etc.? Doesn’t that sound more expensive than $80,000?
Indeed a name change is no small undertaking. “It’s massive. We have different people in different areas taking care of this,” credit union CEO Rhonda Diefenderfer told the Billings Gazette.
The credit union received permission from the state and the NCUA to switch from Laurel FCU to Avanta back in July 2004.
Reality Check: Just because the NCUA or your state’s financial division says it’s okay to use a name doesn’t mean you won’t get sued. Their evaluation of a name includes only a limited and superficial look at similarities with competitors.
Oddly, an AP article on the story mischaracterizes the situation as a “patent dispute.” Patents, while issued from the same federal agency as trademarks, protect processes and inventions, not brand assets. This is purely a trademark issue, and patent law doesn’t have any bearing on the case.
No fewer than five different stories on the snafu appeared in the mainstream media following the credit union’s announcement at its annual meeting last weekend. Despite all the coverage in the last week, there was no message, update or press release regarding the name change on the credit union’s website.
Avanta - V + L = Altana
Presumably, the credit union chose Altana because it was the name that was legally available that most resembled the Avanta name. The new name is what’s known as a neological- or “coined name,” and has no literal meaning.
“Out of more than 300 names, we gave 90 to the attorney,” said Rhonda Diefenderfer, president of the credit union. “Maybe four names survived in her formal search process.”
Key Questions:
How will members react to a second name change in five years?
Will people feel the board and management bungled the first go-around, or will they feel a big, bad bank from Utah needlessly picked on a small Montana credit union?
What will members think of a coined name that (somewhat subjectively) looks like a misspelling of Atlanta?
The credit union has applied for a federal trademark for its new name.
There is another Altana, a chemicals and coatings company in Germany, but they don’t represent any threat to the Montana-based credit union.
Key Takeaway: It’s almost impossible to find a real word that isn’t already trademarked in the financial industry. Coined- and unconventional names are the safest path. Not only are you more likely to end up with a unique, differentiated name, you will likely dodge a mountain of legal nightmares. Unfortunately in the case of Avanta, the coined name they picked was too close to something that was already trademarked.
Bottom Line:
This is the most expensive branding mistake financial institutions make. And they make it over and over and over and over and over and over.
Colorado Springs Credit Union has changed names and become Aventa. The credit union Nearly 40% of the credit union’s membership no longer lives in Colorado Springs, so it was time for another new name, credit union officials said.
The board of directors wanted a name that would be “inclusive and welcoming to the people and communities up and down the front range,” said Sarah Ryals, CMO/Aventa, in an interview.
The Aventa name is coined (meaning it’s made up), but it’s meant to reflect the local Colorado Springs culture.
There is currently a federal trademark application on file for Aventa with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. There is no trademark currently pending under the USPTO’s financial services category for the credit union’s new slogan, “The Common Thread.”
Established in 1957 to serve utilities employees, Aventa Credit Union now has $125 million in assets and 17,000 members.
Aventa Credit Union Website
The credit union was able to pick up the URL aventa.com, which will aid them greatly
when it comes to marketing. The black banner says, “My tats are permanent and so is my
commitment to my community. I expect that from where I bank, too.”
In-Branch Brand Display
“The fabric of a community is woven from a common thread, not red tape.”
Product Displays
Online Banking: “The common thread has gone wireless.”
Savings: “The common thread means we all earn a little more.
Home Loans: “I love my house and my community, but I can do without the red tape.”
In-Branch Brand Display
“In financial times driven by taking care of number one, we’d like to propose taking care of one another.”
Last year, Forest Kraft Credit Union changed names and became Centric. The credit union was looking to appeal to a broader segment of the community by differentiating themselves in a crowded financial market with a unique name. Furthermore, the credit union wanted to dispel the assumption that it was only open to employees of Forest Kraft. The name change process took over 11 months from conception to official roll out. Now, a year later, the transformation is complete.
Centric contracted with LEVEL5 for its strategic consulting, real estate, integrated design, construction management and branding. LEVEL5, a consulting and facilities development firm specializing in financial institutions, worked with the credit union on a strategic plan focused on the best opportunities to reflect the credit union’s philosophy, approach and budget.
Centric and LEVEL5 also partnered with Sky Design for the rebranding and identity redesign. “It was a collaborative process between all three parties,” Greg Allen, Director of Marketing/LEVEL5, told The Financial Brand.
LEVEL5 then implemented the new brand into Centric’s branch environments.
The Financial Brand wrote about two other LEVEL5 projects last year — one story about Auburn FCU’s brand and branch revamp, and another about a modern branch design for Delta Community Credit Union.
Centric Credit Union, based in West Monroe, Louisiana, has $83 million in assets and 11,500 members.
Old Name & Logo
Established in 1937 to originally serve the community’s paper mill employees, Forest Kraft expanded to a multi-SEG credit union in 1996 when it merged with a hospital-based credit union.
Centric Name, Logo & Slogan
The name reflects the credit union’s roots serving the lumber industry. The concentric circles of a tree serve as the inspiration for both the name and the logo. Centric’s new slogan is, “Grounded in Tradition. Growing in Opportunity.” In excess of 300 names were evaluated, from which a short list of 20 were picked. Six rose to the top and joined a priority list for the final selection process. There are currently plans to secure a federal trademark on the Centric name.
Dialog Delivery
LEVEL5 calls the Centric branch design a “dialog delivery” layout, something that “enables employees to better serve members and handle transactions in a more retail-oriented environment rather than traditional branches with teller lines.”
[Editor's Note: This is a follow-up piece to yesterday's article from Freddy J. Nager, "The post-WaMu blues: Chase has lost ‘that lovin' feeling." Chase just recently completed remodeling WaMu's branches which has triggered an outpouring of emotion from former WaMu customers and employees. This will likely be the last story about WaMu here at The Financial Brand.]
The Financial Brand hopped on Twitter to see what people were saying now that the WaMu brand has almost been fully devoured by Chase. If you don’t yet “get” Twitter, don’t worry. You’ll get a sense of why it’s important after reading this, even without any prior experience with the popular social networking tool. Here are selected excerpts from a day-long scan of tweets mentioning “WaMu” (the bank, not the radio stations with the same call letters), which included about 30 in all:
You don’t have to know how Twitter works at all to find such an outpouring of emotion over the loss of a financial brand fascinating. These are people who took time out of their day to share their feelings with their friends (called “Followers” in Twitter)… about a bank. And these aren’t whacked out nut jobs, or digruntled Gen-Y types with nothing better to do. These are regular people.
Key Question: Would people mourn the loss of your brand if it went away? Would anyone pen a eulogy in song for your brand? Has any common consumer ever voluntarily mentioned your name and the word “brand” in the same sentence?
You’ll notice that four of the seven tweets above come from people in the Seattle area. If you are in sales or marketing with a financial institution in Western Washington, wouldn’t you be interested in reaching out to these people?
@coachandrew Have you ever considered switching to
[your bank]? We’d love to have your business. Send me
a message and I’ll give you a call.
Think about it. Four people a day, 365 days a year. That’s over 1,400 qualified leads a year. And we’re only talking about monitoring Twitter for conversations referencing one financial institution. Here’s the key thing: These people are at that critical moment when inertia in their financial relationships is weakest.
Using the advanced features at search.twitter.com, you can perform super robust scans of Twitter conversations. You can look for people who are talking about “banks,” “fees,” “switching,” “WaMu,” “Chase,” “BofA,” “Wells Fargo,” or any number of your competitors. You can limit your search to a targeted geographic area. You can even search for people who have a negative attitude. And the best part is, you can automate your Twitter searches, like this RSS feed that will give you almost-realtime updates for people mentioning “WaMu” within 100 miles of Seattle.
What makes this particularly interesting is that Chase has an active Twitter account. They use it around three times a week. But they don’t talk to- or acknowledge anyone. Why aren’t they in Twitter playing a little defense, responding to people’s questions and concerns?
Compare these tweets for Chase (shown left) and Bank of America (shown right). Again, you don’t have to know squat about Twitter or how it works to tell who is using the medium more effectively.
Chase vs. BofA on Twitter
Notice @chasebank only publishes a one-way, self-serving stream of tweets,
while @BofA_help is actively engaging other Twitter users with “@ Replies”
(a way to respond to a specific person directly in Twitter). Also, notice the highlighted
tweet in Chase’s Twitter stream making the announcement that “Chase is now in California.”
[Editor's Note: Look for an upcoming report on Twitter from Jeffry Pilcher, publisher of The Financial Brand. The report, titled "A Comprehensive Guide to Twitter for Financial Professionals," will be available for purchase through Online Financial Innovations, publishers of the Online Banking Report and Netbanker.com.Send an email if you have any questions or would like to reserve your copy today.]
One customer was angry about the bank picking such a generic name, so they put a call into the bank’s CEO to get some answers. They wanted to know why the bank would put itself through the inconvenience and potential customer confusion of picking such a commonly used name.
“I expressed my concerns with him [the CEO] over the generic new name, which is shared by multiple banks across the country, but he [the CEO] said that they will be the only Cornerstone Bank in Arkansas,” the customer wrote in an online forum. “He [the CEO] did his best to try and assure me that they did all of their homework in preparing this new moniker, which they have been working on for the last year and a half.”
This one name change serves as a singular cautionary tale about the many common pitfalls financial institutions run into:
Geographic names that make sense in the beginning can come back to haunt you when you want to expand
“It’s time to update our name and brand to reflect our evolution and the many changes we’ve experienced over the years,” explains Thomas O’Shea, the credit union’s CEO. “Our name needs to resonate with all of our members, not just the original FAA sponsor group.”
Boeing Employees CU Wichita becomes ‘Meritrust’
The $585 million credit union — the largest in Kansas — is now known as Meritrust. CEO Bob Corwin says the name change will help end confusion about who can join the organization. Corwin believed that having the words Boeing and Wichita in the credit union’s name weren’t helpful in recruiting new members in markets outside the metro.
The formal effort to change the credit union’s name started about two years ago and included focus groups to pin down the new name, the Wichita Business Journal reports.
The credit union says sign changes at their 15 branches will be the largest cost for the project. The credit union claims its Superbowl ads touting the name change cost less than the amount needed to change out signage at its 15 branches.
Judy Tharp, President/CEO, said that the name change was done to “help us overcome confusion with potential new members who may believe they cannot join because we are limited to employees of the aviation industry.”
McCormick Midwest Employees CU seeks names
The credit union’s board of directors has decided that a name change would better reflect its membership. Various names are being considered. They are encouraging submissions via phone and email.
Here’s the easy way to pick a new name for your bank or credit union…and run into some serious trademark problems while you’re at it.
All you have to do is pick something from
Column A and pair it with Column B.
First Choice Credit Union
NewView Bank
You can also switch it up and pick something
from Column B first.
Service Secure Credit Union
Horizon First Bank
You can even pick just one word from either
column and just go with that!
Sun Bank
Advantage Credit Union
Throw in a few terms of your own (how about
“Green?”), and you can easily yield a name list
with a thousand names. “Green Horizon.”
“Greencrest.” “Greenview.”
Reality Check: Just because there isn’t already a financial institution in your area — even your entire state — bearing a name you like, doesn’t mean you can use it, nor does it prevent a trademark lawsuit.
Bottom Line: Pick a name using words like these and you run the very real risk of getting sued and having to start over. Someone, somewhere is using something similar.
The financial industry is being rocked by an unprecedented level of mergers, acquisitions and failures. You can count on a fresh batch of FDIC/NCUA seizures every Friday. Estimates vary, but it is expected that the financial crisis will claim between 300 and 1,200 banks before it’s all over. The latest prediction from RBC says 1,000 banks will fail in the next 3-5 years.
This creates ideal waters for phishing attacks. Here’s how it works:
“Dear valued member/customer, As XYZ Financial becomes ABC Bank, please take this opportunity to update your account details. Simply click here and enter your information. We will verify your details and ensure your accounts are transferred accurately to ABC smoothly and without interruption. Thank you.”
“The integration of Wachovia and Wells Fargo may be seen and used by online crooks as an opportunity to create fraudulent communications. By taking advantage of current business and economic changes, these scammers may trick unsuspecting consumers into sharing confidential information.”
When Bank One was bought by Chase, phishing scammers went on the attack, draining the accounts of unsuspecting customers who received authentic-looking emails.
“What’s interesting here is the perfect criminal timing. When you have a big bank changing its name, naturally there’s bound to be some confusion among its customers. A naive customer might think that the security update is a part of the bank’s name changing process.”
In this article, Kripalani shares the phishing experience of UTI Bank in India became Axis Bank.
During mergers and name changes, consumers aren’t as suspicious of communications that fall outside the typical routine. Their guard is down. Some people don’t think twice about requests to update details or verify information under these circumstances.
Bottom Line: When there is an upcoming merger, name change or acquisition, take the opportunity to demonstrate that you are a tech-savvy financial institution concerned about protecting people’s privacy and money.
With a thorough, proactive communications strategy, you can enhance people’s feeling of trust — the cornerstone of every healthy financial relationship. And most importantly, you’ll help make sure people don’t fall victim to crooks.
This banks says that changing its name to First American Bank provides distinction from the many other First National Banks in New Mexico and throughout the country. But what about the First American Bank in Chicago? And the one in Iowa? And Louisiana? And Oklahoma? And Georgia? It looks like this bank in New Mexico is at least the 6th First American.
Aviva bought Norwich Union a while ago, and announced last year the Norwich name would disappear. Aviva wants to consolidate all its brands under one — a singular, global Aviva umbrella.
While all of this was planned and none of it comes as any surprise, some people are calling into question the wisdom of an $18 million ad campaign to build a global financial brand — especially in this economic climate.
Even the regular people of Sheffield seem to recognize this. “Re-branding is a risky and expensive business,” one person comments. “Why would any bank think it’s a good idea when there’s an economic downturn? I wonder how long it will be before they’re in difficulty.”
HealthCare Plus Federal Credit Union in South Dakota gave its members a vote about whether they should change names to Grand Crossing or not. Apparently the credit union didn’t do a good job convincing members, who voted the name down. The credit union used an online voting form at their website (enlarge the image, left). The credit union still has plans to expand beyond the health care industry, and has not ruled out another attempt at name change to support its strategy.
When you pick a very bank-like name, it’s sure to get lost in a sea of similar-looking competitors: Arizona Bank, Arizona Federal Bank, Arizona Business Bank, Arizona Bank & Trust, Central Arizona Bank, 1st Bank Of Arizona, 1st National Bank Of Arizona and First Interstate Bank of Arizona. (Look at that list again.)
It was once known as Sun Employees Credit Union Number One. Then Sun Credit Union. Then Oryx Credit Union. Then Galleria. It’s now calling itself Prestige Community Credit Union. They say this is their “final name change.”
There are thousands of financial institutions across North America who leave some of their most valuable assets virtually unprotected. We’re talking about their trademarks — things like names, logos, slogans, products, etc.
Here’s a step-by-step process for searching the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s online trademark database to see if a name is federally protected. It takes less than 5 minutes. Every financial institution with a halfway unique name or slogan should do this immediately.
The most common mistakes financial institutions make happens when they change names. All too they make a costly error — one that can be easily avoided: they pick a new name that someone else in the financial industry has already federally trademarked. Time, energy, delays and headaches. All wasted. Lawyers and lawsuits. Very expensive.
If you’re considering a name change, you need to screen every name in the USPTO database using this tool first, before you fall in love with it. If another financial institution has a live trademark on that name, you’re basically out of luck, even if they’re on the opposite side of the continent.
Reality Check: If you’re looking for a name that’s available in the financial industry, good luck. Presently, there are 247,078 live trademarks in the financial industry. Most of the names you’re going to look-up at the USPTO website will already be taken. (When the URL allthegoodnamesaretaken.com is taken, you know it’s hard coming up with something new. This is where an experienced naming firm can help.)
If you want to read about pain and suffering, The Financial Brand has a number of cautionary tales about financial trademark pitfalls.
Bottom Line: If you think you’re safe because you’ve had your name for a hundred years, you’re wrong. If you think having to change names once is expensive, think about how much it costs to change names twice, after you lose a trademark lawsuit. And if you don’t think it’s important to trademark other assets like your ad slogans, think again. Bookmark this page. Someday it could save you a boatload of money.
Key Takeaways:
Do your due diligence. It’s so easy, there’s no excuse.
While the USPTO’s online search tool is a great first step, it is no substitution for the guidance and insight of an experienced trademark attorney.
Many credit unions refer to themselves internally in acronym form. Using acronyms is common industry shorthand. Everyone does in our industry, right?
And when credit unions first start looking at a name change, one option is always first to make it on the table: Simply switch to an acronym. Easy.
Take a name with six words and a mountain of syllables – Something Employees Community Federal Credit Union – and turn it into an acronym, like SECFCU.
But what do all these acronyms look like from the consumer’s perspective.
They look a lot alike.
And they look cold and corporate.
Common ancestry, common surname
Credit unions all share a common last name – the last two names, actually: “credit” and “union.” When you turn your name into an acronym, you only leave yourself a couple of letters to differentiate your credit union from all the other CUs and FCUs out there – not to mention the vast sea of other 3-5 letter acronyms ending in “CU” (or even just “U”).
In Washington State, there’s credit unions whose official names are BECU, HPECU, PUDCU and SECU-FCU. There’s universities with acronyms like EWU and CWU. There’s even a CWU-FCU.
It’s dizzying. What the heck are are those letters supposed to mean?
Reality Check: Acronyms made out of credit union names are visually stiff and phonetically awkward. A combination like “PUDCU” sounds weird when read aloud as “pud kyoo” or “pud coo.” And you can’t enunciate SECU-FCU, which looks like a word jumble. “Seck-you fick-you?”
Acronyms lead to problems with domain names too. These four credit unions all use the ‘PECU’ acronym. But none of them own the über-desireable “www.pecu.com” URL, which actually belongs to the Professional Education Corporation University (aka “PECU“).
There’s also the PECU known as Patriot Equity Credit Union. As well as PEFCU (Purdue Employees Credit Union), PEFCU (Panhandle Educators Federal Credit Union), and PEFCU (Publix Employees Federal Credit Union) with its wholly owned insurance subsidiary, PECU.
It’s not that these credit unions need to change names. Not at all. But if you’re using an acronym and you don’t have to, you might want to reconsider your policy.
Also, if your credit union changes names, avoid acronyms. The acronym you want is already taken by someone, somewhere, if not lots of folks everywhere. Pick a new name and use it with pride.
Bottom Line: The whole point of branding is to differentiate – in every way possible. That means your name – even your URL – should be as different from others as possible, especially your peers and competitors.
Exception: It’s okay to simplify “Federal Credit Union” down to “FCU” in certain applications. This reduction is not a strategic decision. It’s a practical one. You can turn seven syllables into three, and you’re often cutting the visual length of the name in half. It makes a name easier to say, easier to see, easier to write.
If you do use ‘FCU,’ you should still spell the whole name out in your logo and in signage. The fact that you’re a credit union is, in itself, a competitive difference worth spelling out.
Further Reading: Credit union acronyms really annoy Morriss Partee at EverythingCU.com too. Here he gives two big thumbs down for the strategy:
Okay, sorry, this gets a little complicated. There was a Commerce Bank in New Jersey. But earlier this year, TD Banknorth took them over. That merger created a huge naming hassle — including a lawsuit from a Commerce Bank in Massachusetts — over the Commerce name. In the end, the Massachusetts bank prevailed, preventing the Canadian behemoth from using TD Commerce, the name it preferred.
Now, a Commerce Bank — this one in Pennsylvania — is merging with Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank. These newlyweds are opting for Metro Bank as their new name. The combined company will have total assets over $3 billion and more than 1,200 team members. The company will pursue an aggressive growth strategy with new stores in Central Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and other markets.
The trouble is, there is already a Metro Bank in Houston. And one in Alabama. And another in Florida. Oh yeah, and one more in Georgia.
A collection of Metro Bank logos from various financial institutions from around the country.
Notice the use of circles containing an ‘M’ or ‘M’ symbol in each of the logos.
Reality Check: You shouldn’t use another bank’s name — ever.
It doesn’t help differentiate you.
It makes it harder for people to find you online.
It exposes you to all kinds of legal problems over trademarks.
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t matter if the bank is in another state. If you pick a name identical to another financial institution, you’re opening yourself up to a world of legal hurt. It doesn’t even have to be identical, as was the case with TD Commerce.
Bottom Line: If your bank or credit union is considering a name change, avoid new names that sound safe and familiar. Avoid them like the plague. It takes less than 5 minutes in Google to see what kind of trouble you can expect.
The bank is shrinking its name from 21 letters down to one. Nice. The bank said the old name, South Shore Co-operative Bank, was a regular source of confusion for people outside the bank because of its similarity to a larger bank in town, South Shore Savings Bank. That’s understandable. Don Gill, the bank’s CEO, says the process took over a year and a half, which is fairly common for a financial institution name change. Gill also doesn’t care whether you like the name or not. The point is, you’ll remember it. Other names the bank considered: “Via” and “Spire.”
No reason or explanation for the name change was offered, but it’s quite possible due to a trademark problem. There are 34 other credit unions using the word Trust in their names, making it one of the most common in the industry. But credit unions don’t often sue other credit unions. So maybe it was Intrust Bank?
InTrust FCU’s old name and logo (left), the new one (middle), and Intrust Bank (right).
When Forest Kraft Federal Credit Union was founded more than 70 years ago, it served Brown Paper Co. employees exclusively. On Saturday, November 1, the credit union officially became Centric FCU. The rationale is familiar: “Our intent in becoming Centric is to better reflect who we are. There are many in the community who, because of the name Forest Kraft, don’t realize they can join.” Board Chairman Joe Phillips said “the name Centric will always serve as a reminder of the great history we have to celebrate.” Brown Paper + Forest Kraft = Centric? How does that work? No explanation could be found, but maybe it has something to do with concentric rings in a cut tree?
Casebine Credit Union became Casebine Community Credit Union. And Frontier Credit Union became Frontier Community Credit Union. School Employees Credit Union decided not to follow suit, opting for Meridan Credit Union instead of School Employees Community Credit Union. Many credit unions pursue the “Community” naming strategy to reflect a more open charter, but few find that it works as well as they hoped. It’s worth pointing out that Iowa credit unions are required to have members approve name changes in a vote (51% of voting membership needed).
The bank said it needed a name that was less geographically restrictive as it expands. The new name, American State, certainly goes well beyond its East Texas beginnings. There are already American State Banks in Iowa,South Dakota and North Dakota.
Basically, the bank swapped one geographic name for another. “The Greater Hudson Bank name better identifies our brand, as well as our present and future market area plans,” said Eric Wiggins, president and CEO of the bank.
BETTER TOGETHER.
Starsky and Hutch. Peanut butter and jelly.
Lakewood and Kenora District.
Some things just work better together.
When you put two great things together, you get something even better.
It’s about synergy. It’s about community. Most of all, it’s about solutions.
That’s why Lakewood Credit Union and Kenora District Credit Union
have joined to become Copperfin Credit Union.
Copperfin’s new design style is both distinct and refreshing, representing a big visual upgrade in the two credit unions’ brand identities.
The new slogan is “Enjoy life’s possibilities.”
Copperfin falls under the same category of financial names as Red Canoe. These kinds of names are highly unique and creative, they are very trademarkable, and totally unforgettable. Both Copperfin and Red Canoe are the work of Weber Marketing Group, arguably the country’s leading financial naming firm.
Key Question: Who says what a financial name should- or shouldn’t sound like?
Reality Check: There are no rules. If there are rules, they will be summarily ignored by breakthrough brand builders.
Before you rush to criticize a name like Copperfin, just remember: Many of the world’s most successful brands have names that — on the surface — make absolutely no sense at all: Old Navy, Starbucks, Gap, Apple, Virgin.
Key Insights: Name changes are subjected to a level of scrutiny that existing brands never endure. There’s something irresistable about comparing an old name to a new name. And generally speaking, people don’t like change.
Apparently people weren’t buying the bank’s “you can trust us” sales pitch. When you lose people’s trust, you lose their deposits. In the two months prior to the bank’s seizure, customers pulled $264 million of the $1.7 billion on deposit at Silver State.
“A run on deposits is what kills banks,” said Tim Coffey, VP/Research for FIG Partners, in an interview in the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It happened that way in the Great Depression, and it’s happening again.”
Reality Check:
People already don’t trust banks. Most financial institutions are seen as greedy and self-serving.
Situations like this, where Silver State advertised blatant lies, don’t help financial institutions shake this image or build any credibility
People’s B.S. detectors trigger alerts whenever they hear someone say “Trust Me.” Images of used-car salesmen go through their minds.
Key Takeaway: It takes more than just words to earn people’s trust. Reminding people that your financial institution is “safe, sound, secure and stable” is an important communications strategy these days. Just remember: Marketing can’t ever create a sense of trust. As with all our relationships, trust is something earned — usually over time.
Orange County Teachers becomes SchoolsFirst (April)
“After years of research,” the nation’s largest credit union for school employees picks a new name that is more geographically representative and inclusive of all school employees, not just teachers.
METRO Credit Union becomes Extra Credit Union (May)
What was the reason for this name change? The credit union serves the educational community in Southeast Michigan. What was wrong with “Metro?” There isn’t much information out there on this name change. Making the tie back to the credit union’s educational roots, the name is actually “Extra Credit.”
Marion Schools Employees CU becomes Via (May)
The interesting thing here is that the credit union gave members a choice of two names and let them vote. The change takes the credit union’s name from 33 characters to three, and from 12 syllables to two.
Tooele FCU becomes HeritageWest (June)
TFCU was originally formed in 1948 as Benicia Arsenal Federal Credit Union in Benicia, California. In 1962, the name changed to Tooele Army Depot Federal Credit Union. This latest name change reflects a consistent pattern of credit unions tied to military bases changing names, many due to base closures or “realignments” (i.e., “cuts”).
Jefferson County Teachers CU becomes eCO Credit Union (July)
Designed to remove perceived barriers the new name is derived from a blend of ‘Educators’ and ‘Community.’ That may be the credit union’s rationale, but with a name like “eCO,” they better be green, too.
The Education Credit Union becomes Athena (July)
This Ohio credit union picks the name of the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare to support its new community charter.
Commerce Bank of Folsom becomes SierraVista (July)
Only a year after the bank was founded, it decides to expand beyond Folsom. The CEO also said the old name had too many syllables and too many consonants.
First State Bank becomes Legence (July)
The bank said the name change was made to accommodate future growth outside of Southern Illinois. When First State was founded more than 100 years ago, it was the only bank going by that name South Illinois. Now Googling “First State Bank” generates nearly 20 million hits. A good reason not to pick a safe, “financial-sounding” or geographic names in the first place.
Farm Bureau Credit Union becomes Interra (Aug)
American Farm Bureau Federation tells its largest credit union to change names.
Eventually, every well-established brand will ask their credit union(s) to change names (ala John Deere, Weyerhaeuser and others). If there’s any credit union out there with a name connected to a well-known brand, this is your wake-up call. Most people haven’t even heard of American Farm Bureau, so if they’re out to defend their brand…look out. How many big-brand, single-sponsor credit unions are left anyway?
DOT Federal Credit Union becomes Bridgeway (Sept)
The credit union gets a community charter and changes names. The new name makes a connection back to the credit union’s roots serving the Department of Transportation — a strategy that is usually well-received. Apparently, there are also three major bridges that connect the residents of the three counties the credit union now serves. 3Bridges (or Three Bridges) would have been a cool name too, but there’s nothing wrong with Bridgeway. It looks like a pretty clean trademark.
Conclusion & Analysis
Community charters continue to be the #1 reason credit unions change names, although changes with employee sponsor groups like military bases are another common reason. That’s why Fort Belvoir FCU dropped the word “Fort” from its name earlier this year. Back in 2002, Motorola was cutting jobs and scaling back operations, so its credit union had to change names and became TruWest.
Most credit unions were founded with Where+Who names like Jefferson School Employees, Marion School Employees and Orange County Teachers that clearly say which people in which community they serve. As credit unions expand their reach, they find that the names that once served them well are awkward and confusing. You can’t just tack the word “community” to your name. People will still think Acme Employees Community Credit Union is just for Acme employees.
The vast majority of bank name changes are the result of mergers. Either one bank absorbs the other, or, if the banks are similar in size, they may mashup their names like RBC Centura.
Geographical names make perfect sense and work well in the beginning. But both banks and credit unions alike find geographical names can be very challenging when the expand beyond their initial service area. This is the #2 reason after mergers that banks change names.
Fight looms, confusion inevitable as
two Texas banks now share ‘Vista’ name
“We changed our name to soar above the crowd…to set ourselves apart.”
– Security State Bank
A new website for Security State Bank & Trust says the bank changed names to “soar above the crowd” and to “set ourselves apart.” But there’s a problem. The name they picked, Vista Bank of Texas, is almost identical to another bank in the same state, Vista Bank Texas.
Key Question: Who was first?
It’s hard to say.
Vista #1:Vista Bank Texas Service Area: 6 branches around Houston Claim to Name: It doesn’t look like this bank had been using the Vista name for very long. They launched their current website in December 2007.
Vista #2:Vista Bank of Texas Service Area: 8 branches around the Texas panhandle Claim to Name: In their trademark application on file with the US Patent & Trademark Office, they say the first time they used the name was June 2008. (Click here to view the USPTO trademark entry.)
Bottom Line: This may be a case of unfortunate timing and a terrible coincidence, but these banks are in for big trouble. It doesn’t matter that they are 500 miles apart. In today’s wired world, people are going to get confused.
Prediction: Financial trademark lawsuit in 3…2…1…
And it all may boil down to a difference of just six months and the simple preposition “of.” Maybe one of them should have put “First” in their name so we’d know which was the First Vista Bank of Texas. Joking. Just joking…
A creative solution to the problem would be for the two Vista Banks in Texas to merge, or create some sort of shared branching concept. Maybe you’ve heard the old adage, “The quickest way to eliminate my enemy is to call him my friend?” Don’t hold your breath though. This isn’t very likely.
A credit union in California holds the trademark for the word “Vista” in the USPTO’s financial services category, but a merger in 2007 between Vista FCU and Partners Credit Union name may make the trademark moot (click here to view the USPTO trademark entry.) Because the merged credit unions kept the “Partners” name, it’s unlikely either of them will step-up to defend this trademark.
More on the “Vista” name:
It appears that Security State Bank & Trust bought their new URL, www.vistabank.com, for around $2,000 from a cybersquatter. The domain had been put up for sale after another Vista Bank gave it up a few years ago.
Names selected for this list were based on their uniqueness within the credit union industry. In other words, there is only one credit union using that name (”Beehive” is the only exception.) Other criteria included:
Each reflects something phonetically interesting and/or thematically evocative.
Each name is memorable, and lends itself to a URL that’s easy to recall.
Searching Google for these names is likely to yield the correct result in the top 2-5 results, especially when paired with the term “credit union.”
For 120 years, people in Ohio knew their bank simply as “OV.”
Not any more. The bank was forced to change names by one of their competitors.
The ‘Ohio Valley National Bank’ was founded in 1887 and had been doing business under the same name since it was founded over 120 year ago. Impressive, especially considering that no other bank in its market had used its original name for more than 11 years.
Unfortunately for Ohio Valley National Bank, another area bank decided to change names and become ‘Ohio Valley Bank’ in 1994. The new ‘OVB’ immediately applied for trademark protection with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. (Snapshot of the USPTO trademark here.)
Fact: When the USPTO looks at a trademark application, there is a five-year period where if no one contests the trademark, it is approved and uncontestable from then on. It doesn’t matter if someone had been using that same brand name for hundreds of years. It may not be fair, but it’s the law.
According to an article in the Evansville Courier Press, this is apparently what happened to the original ‘OV.’ The original ‘OV’ probably assumed its trademark was safe since it was first and had been using its name forever. The new ‘OVB’ filed for a federally registered trademark in 1994, but the original ‘OV’ never contested the application. Five years passed and… Ooops.
The original ‘OV’ was then faced with a choice. They could either choose to share their name with another financial institution in the same market, or they could change names themselves.
The original ‘OV’ chose to modify its name, dropping the words “national” and “bank” as it became ‘Ohio Valley Financial Group.’
Reality Check: This is a cautionary tale to all those financial institutions who erroneously presumed they safely owned their trademarks – forever. Wrong. Just because you’ve had your name for 100+ years doesn’t mean anything – even from the USPTO’s perspective.
It is your burden and responsibility to protect your trademarks, and if you let someone else use your name (or something similar) for too long, you will forfeit your right — forever — to exclusively use that name.
Bottom Line: If you haven’t federally protected your trademark yet, get started today. You have to attack everyone who threatens the integrity of your trademark(s). Getting litigious may not be your natural instinct, but letting anyone share your trademark(s) is the same thing as saying, “I don’t care if these assets erode and their value depreciates.”
(*Dislcaimer: If you have questions concerning financial trademarks, please consult an experienced trademark attorney.)
For many credit unions, expanding their charters is a common growth strategy. Often, a credit union’s first reflex after getting a community charter is to add the word “community” to its name.
The reasoning goes something like this: “Our community charter should fuel future growth. The only problem is, people don’t know they can join. We need a way to say, ‘We’re open to everyone!’”
The solution: ‘[Fill-in-the-Blank] Community Credit Union.’ The word “community” represents a “community charter,” and everyone knows a community charters are “open to the community,” right?
Wrong.
Reality check: Industry insiders often make the mistake of crediting the general public with more knowledge about credit unions than they actually have. We forget that Joe Average struggles to grasp the basic concepts of “joining” and “membership,” much less subtler credit union terminology, like “shares” or “CUDL.”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the word “community.” There are plenty of successful credit unions incorporating “community” into their names. Just don’t be fooled into thinking the word “community” will help the general public realize they can join.
Over 500 credit unions have slipped the word “community” in their names – that’s one out of every 16. Yet after changing names, many are still frustrated by stagnant member growth. This is most prevalent among credit unions who retain their main sponsor’s name — for instance, turning ‘Company Employees Credit Union’ to ‘Company Community Credit Union.’ It seems logical, because this formula preserves heritage in the old name.
The big problem is that no matter how many times you say “everyone can join,” people just can’t get past the ‘Company’ name. They understandably assume that only employees of the Company can join. Research bears this out over and over.
Bottom line: You can’t just tack a word like “community” onto your name and hope it works. Supporting a community charter takes good old-fashioned marketing muscle.
Most credit unions with newly-minted community charters don’t have brands that are ready for primetime.
If you’re going to go through the process and expense of changing your credit union’s name, embrace the opportunity to truly rebrand your identity.
“No one wants to come into a bank that has the name of another city on it if they are in a different city,” said bank president Greg Patton. (Did anyone tell him that Sierra Vista is the name of a city in Arizona?)
But that’s not all he said. Apparently the old name was a weighty linguistic anchor: “Folsom Bank of Commerce (sic) is too many consonants and too many syllables.”
Huh? Too many consonants? The old name had 14 consonants and 6 vowels. The new name has 9 consonants and 5 vowels. That’s five fewer consonants. But is that really any better? Does the number of consonants a name has really have any bearing on its appeal or appropriateness?
Syllables are another story. At least one can argue that a name with too many syllables is too long. But here’s the funny thing: The new name has exactly as many syllables as the old one – six.
The bank is keeping the same basic logo and colors, but is changing the typeface.
Bottom Line: Geographic names cut both ways. They say you’re local, but they can become a barrier to growth down the road.
Dave Alford, a bank consultant in the Folsom area commenting on the Sierra Vista name change, offers this advice: “I’ve always been a fan of the geographically generic name. I am a firm believer in the generic name so that you can open in any market.”
Good advice Dave.
UPDATE: August 9, 2008 - Sierra Vista changes its stock ticker to OTCBB SVBA. The old ticker symbol was OTCBB CBFM.
Federally chartered credit union have a few more options with their names than their state chartered counterparts.
The huge number of federal banks and federal agencies using the word ‘Federal’ in their name creates a layer of credibility or added security. Credit unions bearing the ‘Federal’ moniker are (intentionally or unintentionally) suggesting that their brand is backed by some connection to the U.S. Federal Government. (Of course, in the case of federal credit unions insured by the NCUA, this is essentially true.)
For federal credit unions, the word ‘Federal’ is almost like a middle name, wedged in between their first name and the common ‘Credit Union’ surname. Some credit unions choose to emphasize their middle name, others downplay it.
The most common way for federal credit unions to treat their federal status is to tuck “Federal Credit Union” under their main name:
Other credit unions embrace their federal status by elevating the word ‘Federal’ up to the same size and level of importance as their main name.
This treatment encourages staff and the general public to see and say the name differently, as in the following examples where the ‘Credit Union’ surname was dropped altogether.
Federal credit unions can also abbreviate their names, like ‘Bay Fed’ and ‘USA Fed,’ to make them more casual and friendly while still preserving the strength and stability implied by the ‘Federal’ brand.
Many federal credit unions can use the abbreviated ‘fed’ in their website domains. This can make it much easier to obtain a short, relevant and intuitive URL, even when you have a common word in your name such as ‘Bay.’
On one extreme end of the spectrum, there are credit unions who have dropped not only ‘Federal’ from their logos, but ‘Credit Union’ as well.
Some would argue that it’s a mistake to shed ‘Credit Union’ from their names, saying you should embrace the credit union difference because that is what makes you unique. It is certainly what makes you unique from banks, but not from other credit unions. When you are a credit union like Allegacy and ENT with billions in assets, you’re not only big enough to have your own brand (one with a shorter name), you’re big enough to support it with the right amount of advertising.
Bottom line: Your name may always be ‘ABC Federal Credit Union,’ but how you choose to treat your logo and refer to yourself is a strategic decision. As a federal credit union, you have options.
One of the biggest benefits federally chartered credit unions enjoy with respect to naming is that they can change names much easier than state chartered credit unions because federal credit unions are exempt from any state laws and DFI requirements to hold member votes to get name changes approved.
#1) Employees - 1,553
#2) Community - 526
#3) County - 323
#4) Schools - 279
#5) West - 214
#6) Teachers - 214
#7) City - 199
#8) Postal - 183
#9) First - 179
#10) North - 170
Connection to employees reflected in names
1-in-6 credit unions have the word ‘Employee’ in their name
Over 600 credit unions have ‘School,’ ‘Teachers’ or ‘Educators’ in their name
183 have ‘Postal’ in their name
157 credit unions have ‘Municipal’ in their name
110 credit unions have ‘Health’ in their name
108 credit unions have ‘Fire’ in their name
73 credit unions have ‘Police’ in their name
‘Community’
1-in-16 credit unions use the word ‘Community’ in their name
48 credit union names start with ‘Community’
10 credit unions share the name ‘Community Credit Union’
There are 4 ‘Community Choice’ CUs and four others named ‘Community First’
Who’s Number One?
161 credit unions use the word ‘One’ or number ‘1’
220 credit unions use the word ‘First’ or ‘1st’
‘First’ is the first word in 116 credit unions’ name; 25 others us ‘1st’ elsewhere in their names
Geography & Topography
393 credit unions use ‘County,’ 199 use ‘City,’141 use ‘State’
About 100 credit unions use either ‘America,’ ‘American,’ ‘US’ or ‘USA’
‘West’ beats ‘East,’ 214 to 100
‘North’ beats ‘South,’ 170 to 131
‘Pacific’ beats ‘Atlantic,’ 40 to 16
141 credit unions use the word ‘Valley’
92 use ‘River’
68 use ‘Lake’
52 use ‘Coast’
40 use ‘Hill’
39 use ‘Rock’
37 use ‘Mountain’
‘Credit Union’ first
30 credit unions shun convention by putting ‘Credit Union’ in front of their name instead of at the end, such as the 7 credit unions who share ‘Credit Union One.’
Bottom line: You don’t have to change your credit union’s name just because it contains a commonly-used word. But if you’re going to change the name to something new, you should avoid these words. Using words that are this ubiquitous don’t distinguish you in any way, and they carry significant trademark risks.
Want the full list?
If you’d like the full list of words commonly used by credit unions in their names and the frequency with which they occur, shoot me an email.
A recent article in the Worcester Business Journal explores what it calls the “big business” of financial naming.
The article looks at some of the unique naming challenges six different financial institutions have faced.
The article discusses two name changes previously covered by The Financial Brand, including this brief article about Avidia, and this analysis of Rollstone.
The article points out that once a bank or credit union makes the decision to change its name, finding the right one can be complicated.
Regarding the Avidia name change, Ken Simms, SVP/Marketing said it took five months, a specialized consultant, interviews with multiple bank directors and employees and a thorough survey of the competition for the name to stick.
“When it comes to branding, credit unions face the same problems as banks, plus some extra ones.”
— WBJ article
Martin Connors Jr., Rollstone’s CEO, said they considered several names that were already in use. With the rise of Internet banking, he said, if any bank uses the same name, even if it’s across the country, it has to be eliminated from consideration.
Reality Check: Do-it-yourself naming can get you into deep doo-doo if you don’t know what you’re doing.
For starters, all the new names you might come up with on your own are probably federally protected and registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Just read about all the trademark nightmares previously covered by The Financial Brand:
The mystery is over. The name of Canada’s 3rd largest credit union will be Servus.
The credit union’s board chose the name because the Servus brand was created only 18 months ago, is recognized in the Edmonton market and can be trademarked.
Earlier this year, three credit unions in Alberta (Servus, Common Wealth and Community Savings) announced they were merging to create the third largest in Canada, with $9 billion in assets, almost 400,000 members, 2,000 employees and 100 branch locations. The merger left two big questions unanswered:
What will the name of the credit union be?
What will happen to Young & Free, the phenomenally popular Gen-Y promo from Common Wealth CU, one of the the merging credit unions?
In the comments of a previous post here at The Financial Brand, representatives from both Common Wealth and Currency Marketing, the agency behind Young & Free, reassured concerned readers that yes indeed, Young & Free would survive the merger.
The selection of Servus as the name comes as no surprise. First off, Servus was the larger credit union in the merger. It’s also a far more unique and interesting name than either of the other two options, Common Wealth and Community Savings, which are both fairly generic names. That’s what makes it possible to get trademark protection with real teeth. And the double-meaning behind the name is a nice touch: “service” and “serve us.”
Being able to secure a clean trademark is critical when changing names, a lesson some financial institutions frequently learn the hard way. (For related coverage on the pitfalls of financial trademarks, see today’s article from The Financial Brand on TD’s troubles with the Commerce name.)
Common Wealth and Community Savings have until October 31, 2008 to phase-in the new Servus name.
You can read the official press release here (PDF).
Here’s an interesting ruling in a financial trademark dispute involving Orion Bancorp(the victor) and Orion Residential Finance. The judge ordered the guilty infringer to purchase “negative keywords” through Google and other online ad systems.
A negative keyword tells search engines that the advertiser’s ad should never be shown when a certain term is searched for.
The judge also ordered the guilty Orion to pay to display Orion Bancorp’s ads when people search for “Orion Residential Finance” at various search engines.
Can you imagine having to pay to show your competitor’s ad every time someone did a Google search for your name?
Orion Bancorp received Federal trademark protection when it registered its name in 2003. Orion Residential Finance first created its site in 2007.
You can read the full story here, and the complete judgment can be viewed here (PDF).
Key Takeaways:
It’s next to impossible to find a name that “sounds financial” that won’t expose you to a potential lawsuit. Most of the names people naturally think of are already being used somewhere by someone.
All the obvious financial names are almost surely registered trademarks. Going with one of those is seriously risky business.
Bottom Line: A little due diligence and a quick search at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office would have saved Orion Residential Finance a lot of pain and a truckload of money.
From here forward, if they were to stay in business (doubtful), they would have to change-out everything with their logo on it. Not cheap.
‘Genisys’ comes from combining ‘General Motors’ and ‘Unisys,’ the credit unions’ two main employer groups.
Two Michigan-based credit unions, USA and T&C Federal, expect to complete the largest credit union merger in the state’s history later this year. They will be adopting Genisys Credit Union as their new moniker.
It is one of those rare “merger of equals” in the credit union industry. T&C has $611 million in assets, about 65,000 members and 178 employees. USA has $609 million, about 64,000 members and 140 employees. There probably has never been a merger of two credit unions this similar.
T&C’s members will have to vote to approve the merger. In this letter to T&C members, the credit union says it is “hoping for a 100 percent approval rate,” but in an interview, T&C CEO Dianne Addington was more realistic: “Our goal is to get 80 to 85 percent approval.”
The credit union will be operating under USA’s state charter, so its members are not required to approve the merger.
The choice to go with the Genisys name may present some problems. There is already a federally registered trademark for GeniSys Credit Union Payment Solutions from another Michigan-based company, CUCorp, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Michigan Credit Union League whose use of the trademark dates back as far as 1999.
There’s also all the following Genisys-something-or-others, but they won’t have any real legal grounds to stop Genisys Credit Union from moving forward because they are in different sectors or different industries altogether:
Some people think a company with a registered trademark can make a federal case against anyone else trying to use that name — in any industry. It’s a common misconception. The truth is that a toothbrush manufacturer can’t sue a credit union if the credit union picked the toothbrush manufacturer’s name. The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) holds to the standard that “a reasonable person would need to be confused,” and reasonable people don’t confuse their credit union with their toothbrush.
There is a federal trademark filed under the USPTO’s “financial services” category (International Class 36) for the word Genesis (all by itself). The trademark is registered to an insurance company. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office can consider phonetic similarities, such as Genesis and Genisys, when evaluating whether a company’s trade name infringes on a registered mark. The fact that the insurance company has the word Genesis all by itself is important.
Bottom Line: There doesn’t appear to be anyone with the Genisys name offering B2C financial services, specifically in Michigan, so the credit union’s new name will probably be safe.
Both credit unions are publishing identical information to their members, with special pages linked off their respective home pages (here and here).
The credit unions have arguably done a good job communicating with members about the merger and name change. Here’s all the materials they have available:
The credit union’s press release says the name honors the heritage of their respective memberships:
“The name comes straight out of our roots. ‘Gen’ from General Motors members who started T&C and ‘isys’ from Unisys members who form the foundation of USA. We are not forgetting who we are or where we came from.”
It’s a good story, with good rationale.
The combined credit union will have $1.2 billion in assets and will rank as the fourth-largest in Michigan. The new entity will rank in the top 85 nationally in members and in the top 100 in assets.
T&C’s Addington will be the new Genisys CEO. USA’s CEO Mary McDonald will retire following a transition period.
RBC already stands for Royal Bank of Canada, so why is the extra “Bank” needed at the end of the new RBC Bank name? Isn’t it repetitively redundant (to make a point)?
At least they didn’t go with the unsightly word jumble RBC-USA.
In an earlier name change for the bank, back when RBC acquired Centura Bank in 2001, they adopted the predictably safe A+B naming mashup that merging companies are so fond of (think “AOL Time Warner”):
RBC + Centura Bank = RBC Centura Bank
At least back then it made some sense to keep “Bank” at the end of RBC Centura Bank because “Bank” was part of the second bank’s full name.
RBC Name Change Brings New Brand This most recent name change gave the bank the opportunity to rebrand with a new look and new slogan:
The “Let’s do something giant” tagline is intended to suggest themes such as “partnering together” and “major accomplishments,” but it could also evoke notions of “bigbankness.” The word “giant” is different and unexpected, but it also seems to run counter to today’s prevailing “think-small-and-save” mindset.
The new logo creates an awkward amount of space between the RBC shield and the RBC Bank name. The distance is an uncomfortable divorce, and makes it look like the name is a visual afterthought.
Key Takeways:
If you’re going to pursue a name change, it may seem easy to become XYZCU. But this is one of the weaker directions you can choose.
You can avoid running into problems with redundant acronyms by never reducing your name to an acronym in the first place.
Going with an acronym strips away the uniqueness of your name, leaving you with a cold series of meaningless letters
Using acronyms means the rest of your brand will have to work that much harder to create relevance and meaningful differentiation.
The merger between TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank means the name of ‘TD Banknorth Garden’ will probably have to change.
“For sure the ‘Garden’ will remain there, and what version of ‘TD’ goes in front of it is the question,” said Bharat Masrani, TD Banknorth’s chief executive. Good call, because Celtics fans might close their accounts if you messed with their venerable ‘Garden.’
Changing the Garden’s name could cost $1 million or more, and that’s just for signs and graphics inside and outside the building.
As far as the bank goes, you can probably guess what its new name will be, especially considering TD’s history with naming. (Hints: TD Waterhouse, TD Ameritrade, TD Banknorth, TD Canada Trust.)
Okay, enough suspense. The new moniker will be ‘TD Commerce.’ Jennifer Carlson, public affairs officer for TD said the bank’s branding team did a thorough analysis, deciding that combining ‘TD’ with ‘Commerce’ is “the best of both worlds.”
But hold on a second…
Another ‘Commerce’ Sues
There’s already Commerce Bank & Trust in Massachussets, one of the states TD Banknorth is in. When they heard TD Banknorth was thinking about ‘TD Commerce’ as a new name, Commerce Bank & Trust figured they had to sue.
“We have no choice. This is a tremendous risk to us,” said Commerce Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Thompson in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. “A name is everything in banking. It’s what you promote and it’s how you identify yourself.”
Commerce Bank & Trust has $1 billion in assets, 11 branches, and they’ve been around since 1955. Just the same, Commerce Bank & Trust would have a stronger case if they had a federally registered trademark on file with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. It doesn’t look like they do.
TD filed its trademark application for ‘TD Commerce’ on March 19, 2008.
New Name Gets Old Tagline
According to this article, the name change carries forward Commerce Bank’s slogan: “America’s Most Convenient Bank.” To support the tagline, TD is extending the hours of its Banknorth branches.
Also supporting the “most convenient” tagline is the newly combined branch network canvassing the east coast: 460 branches from Commerce and 600 from TD Banknorth.
The Times Union reports that the bank will underake an interior and exterior “rebranding effort” at all of its 1,100 branches. The bank also said it will launch a multimillion-dollar campaign to introduce the new name to consumers, including television, print, online and in-store advertising.
TD acquired the New Jersey-based Commerce Bank back in November for $8.5 billion. Commerce has $48 billion in assets. TD Banknorth, based in Portland, Maine, has $40 billion in assets, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of TD Bank Financial Group of Toronto.
Virginia Financial Group and First National Bank just completed a merger. The two banks were similarly sized, and when there’s a merger of equals, one of three things happens:
The two banks mashup their names, like ‘Virginia National’ or ‘Virginia First.’ This is the most common route merged banks choose.
One of the two banks has such an obviously great name, or clearly has more brand equity than the other, so that name prevails. This isn’t that common though, mostly because few financial institutions have truly great names with any brand equity.
They start fresh with a new name. That’s what these guys did.
The merged banks will be called ‘StellarOne.’ The bank will be based in Christiansburg, Virginia, and will be the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Virginia, with over 60 branches and total assets of more than $3 billion.
Name Distinctiveness:
The words “One” and “First” are the most familiar — and most overused — naming conventions in the financial industry. You can slap “One” or “First” in front or in back of just about any other word and whammo…you’ve got a serious-sounding financial name.
The ‘One’ naming device used in ‘StellarOne’ isn’t as rhetorical as it is in names like ‘Community One.’ You can at least use it in common language, as in “Which bank am I going to? The ’stellar one.’”
Name Meaning and Message:
‘StellarOne’ makes a brand promise. It may be a bit of a stretch to suggest a banking experience with them will be “stellar,” but it’s better that the name have some sort of story than no story at all (like ‘Virginia National’ or ‘Virginia First’).
There’s also a bit of an astral quality to the name. Pro? Con? You decide.
Trademark Status:
Virginia Financial Group filed for a trademark on ‘StellarOne’ back in October, 2007, so this name has clearly been in the works for some time prior to the official announcement.
There are 11 federally protected trademarks on file for the word “Stellar” in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s financial services category. One is an insurance underwriter, another is a commercial lender in Ohio. None of the existing trademark holders looks to be particularly threatening to StellarOne, although you never know — someone just may decide to make a stink anyway.
New Logo: It’s a wordmark (type only), and sort of a crude one at that.
Overall Grade: B-
StellarOne is a “safe choice.” The name is a little different, which is good, but it’s not different enough to spark intrigue and really engage people. Names like WaMu and Wachovia trigger much more emotional reactions, and they are more fun to say.
Maybe ‘StellarSeven’ or ‘Stellar4’ would have been better?
Back in February, Wauwatosa Savings invited its customers to help pick a new name for the bank. Customers had the until the end of the month to choose between three semi-finalists provided by the bank’s management: ‘Granite Bank,’ ‘WaterStone Bank’ and ‘Security First Bank.’
(Previous coverage from The Financial Brand, including an explanation of why the bank changed names, here).
Linguistically speaking, the WaterStone name is strong. The “water” aspect of the name connotes “flowing abundance” and themes of nature. “Stone” suggests strength and stability. These are very positive associations in the financial services sector.
Combining the words “water” and “stone” into one word is cool, but the capital “S” in “stone” is a bit gimmicky. No biggie though. Everyone has to do what they need to differentiate. Right?
Especially when there’s three other ‘Waterstones’ already registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in Class 36 (for financial services). One company is in capital management, one in consulting, and a third providing benefit administration:
Key Questions:
Will any of the existing ‘Waterstones’ with federally protected trademarks challenge the new Waterstone?
The ‘WaterStone’ in Wauwatosa hasn’t applied for trademark protection yet, but if it does, will it trigger some sort of alarm with the other ‘Waterstones’ already on record with the USPTO?
How would the USPTO and courts respond to a trademark challenge, especially considering the USPTO has already granted three separate registered trademarks to companies in the same industry?
Bottom Line: All risks aside, the selection of the ‘WaterStone’ name makes sense for Wauwatosa.
First of all, Wauwatosa Savings recently acquired a mortgage company with the Waterstone name, so they have some history (and legitimate claim) connected to the name.
Second, the customers made the right choice (I’m assuming the vote was fair, and the results can be inspected by customers). The other two name options were troublesome. ‘Security First’ is just plain bland, and ‘Granite’ does the same things as ‘WaterStone’ but without the “water” aspect of the name. ‘Granite’ also carries significant trademark risks.
At its website, the bank had yet to announce the winners of their naming contest. But standby, there’s a fair chance that they probably will.
Along with the new WaterStone name comes the tagline “It’s all here for you,” supporting the bank’s rebranding as a full service financial service provider in its communities.
The bank will officially become WaterStone sometime in mid-2008. According to the bank, they will most likely be changing the name of their holding company too.
+ Servus[ 60 branches | 195,000 members | $4.75 billion | 900 employees ] + Community Savings [ 30 branches | 110,000 members | $2.5 billion | 640 employees ]
+ Common Wealth [ 15 branches | 52,000 members | $1.5 billion | 300 employees ]
The new $9 billion credit union will be the third largest in Canada, with almost 400,000 members, 2,000 employees and 100 branch locations.
But the merger leaves one big question: What will the name of the new organization be?
What do you think?
What will be the name of Alberta's newly-merged credit union?
Servus (56%, 5 Votes)
None of the above, a different new name (33%, 3 Votes)
Common Wealth (11%, 1 Votes)
Community Savings (0%, 0 Votes)
Alberta-something-or-other (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 9
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The safe money is on ‘Servus’ because it represents over half the deal. When one of the organizations is much larger, it is usually their name that prevails. But it’s no sure thing.
As of now, the newly-merged entity hasn’t decided anything. According to this article, “The board will undertake a name selection and branding strategy review prior to registering the Articles of Incorporation November 1, 2008.”
It’s usually a little easier when only two firms merge. Quite often the two firms simply mashup their two names, like ‘AOL Time Warner.’ But you can’t do that here (’Servus Community Wealth Credit Union’).
Key Question: Will the credit union give members a voice and invite their participation in the selection of the new name?
Tip of the Hat: Three organizations merging at one time is rare. It almost never happens, and not just in the credit union industry — any industry. But if anyone anywhere can find a way to do it, it’s those affable Canadians.
“In the financial industry,
if you don’t grow, you go.”
– Tim Haegelin, CEO
San Antonio City Employees FCU had a name change in the works since 2006, but, in the words of Tim Haegelin, President/CEO, it became “an inevitability” following a community charter.
“It’s a matter of survival. We believe we’ve had such a very, very strong tradition and a strong legacy. We don’t want to merge, and we don’t want to go,” said Haegelin.
On its website, the credit union said the new name reflects “multiple generations of credit union members moving toward a sound financial future.”
About the new logo, Haegelin said, “Capital letters are very formal.” The credit union also had this to say about its new logo:
“The green and orange waves symbolize movement from one generation to the next, as traditions are passed on. Unique to other institutions in San Antonio, the green and orange make us stand out and say we’re not like the other banks in town. We’re here for you. The bright, fresh colors are native to the San Antonio landscape, showing our pride in being a part of this community.”
It took about a week for crews to change signs on the credit union’s six branches and 26 ATMs.
According to an article in The CU Times, the credit union’s new slogan will be “What’s next.”
The credit union becomes at least the fifth Generation credit union in the United States. The other four include:
After a 100 year history that includes three acquisitions and two previous name changes, a coalition of two Illiniois banks will now bear only one moniker: ‘Alpine.’
“Our two banks have been working very closely together for several years with many combined departments serving both banks,” said R. Robert Funderburg, Jr., chairman of Alpine.
On its website, the bank says it feels the time is right to create one unified brand in the markets it serves. The bank expects to complete the name change by the end of May.
The bank’s combined 21 branch and ATM locations complement each other nicely within a tidy 300 square mile area (see map).
According to the USPTO, there is an Alpine Bank in Colorado that has all the ‘Alpine’ trademarks locked up in the financial services category.
Bottom Line:
It’s much easier to operate under one name and brand than two.
It requires less marketing capital, less manpower.
The single Alpine name will likely yield higher brand awareness in its concentrated market.
Fitchburg Savings Bank felt its current name was limiting. First of all, it had grown past its beginnings primarily as a savings institution. Second, it had expanded beyond its roots in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In fact, over 70% of the bank’s business was outside its hometown.
“From a marketing and branding standpoint, the
perception was that if your name is Fitchburg
Savings Bank, you only do business in Fitchburg,”
said CEO Martin Connors Jr. “But over time we have
become much more of a regional bank.”
The bank’s new name will be ‘Rollstone’ (new logo shown below). The new name derives from the “Rollstone Boulder,” an historic symbol in the city of Fitchburg.
The original Rollstone is a legendary rock(shown above), a New England landmark that weighs in at 110 tons.
“It was important to choose a new name that reflects our heritage as well as our future,” said bank chairman Kevin Learned in a press release. The old name was “no longer an accurate representation of who we are.”
On its website, the bank says the reason for the change is that they have simply outgrown their name.
Apparently the bank had been considering a name change for years, but only recently took the idea seriously. After only four months, the final decision to go with ‘Rollstone’ was reached in a unanimous vote among the bank’s directors and shareholders.
The new name will be fully integrated – bank-wide – over the next few months, starting with banners and signs in branches.
The bank has already applied for federal trademark protection with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
The bank has a new slogan to go with the Rollstone name, “Rock Solid Banking Since 1846.”
The bank has grown to $412 million in assets in those 162 years.
Bottom Line:
Geographical names are very limiting.
Having a geographic name is one of the top three reasons financial institutions change names.
There are names that can emphasize a connection to a local area without limiting one’s geographic scope.
What impact will the new name have on the bank’s customers? As CEO Conners said, “It’s strictly a name change.”
“We thought we’d done due diligence before, but the attorney said it is close enough and you won’t win,” said Tracy DuFresne, VP of HR and Marketing for the credit union, in an interview.
The credit union received permission from the state and the NCUA to switch from Laurel FCU to Avanta back in July 2004.
Presumably, the credit union chose Altana because it was the name that was legally available that most resembled the Avanta name. The new name is what’s known as a neological- or “coined name,” and has no literal meaning.
There is another Altana, a chemicals and coatings company in Germany, but they don’t represent any threat to the Montana-based credit union.
WaMu is becoming Chase. I am becoming annoyed.
In case u didn’t know, WaMu sucks now!!!
my local wamu is now a chase bank. boo!
WAMU now Chase - you really screwed up. As a small business owner you really screwed us. Customer lost.
Looking to switch banks. I loved Wamu dearly,
The Chase makeover of the Seattle WAMU branch is fugly. Time to switch banks.
WAMU/Chase just lost a customer today. I loved the customer service at WAMU. So sad that it went away with the name.
“It’s time to update our name and brand to reflect our evolution and the many changes we’ve experienced over the years,” 
Judy Tharp, President/CEO, said that the name change was done to 
Aviva bought Norwich Union a while ago, and announced last year the Norwich name would disappear. Aviva wants to consolidate all its brands under one — a singular, global Aviva umbrella.
As one advertising columnist writes, “The irony is that at the moment 
It was once known as Sun Employees Credit Union Number One. Then Sun Credit Union. Then Oryx Credit Union. Then Galleria. It’s now calling itself Prestige Community Credit Union. They say this is their “final name change.”
Many credit unions refer to themselves internally in acronym form. Using acronyms is common industry shorthand. Everyone does in our industry, right?
People already don’t trust banks. Most financial institutions are seen as greedy and self-serving.
Tooele FCU becomes HeritageWest
Two First Federal banks merge
The big problem is that no matter how many times you say “everyone can join,” people just can’t get past the ‘Company’ name. They understandably assume that only employees of the Company can join. Research bears this out over and over.
The huge number of federal banks and federal agencies using the word ‘Federal’ in their name creates a layer of credibility or added security. Credit unions bearing the ‘Federal’ moniker are (intentionally or unintentionally) suggesting that their brand is backed by some connection to the U.S. Federal Government. (Of course, in the case of federal credit unions insured by the NCUA, this is essentially true.)
RBC Centura Bank 
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The safe money is on ‘Servus’ because it represents over half the deal. When one of the organizations is much larger, it is usually their name that prevails. But it’s no sure thing.
