What’s in a bank name? Avoiding identity crisis

There has long been confusion over bank names in Northern Colorado.

It’s probable that people who don’t work in or closely with the industry don’t realize that there are two, non-related First National Banks – both of which operate a branch in Wellington. And don’t forget First National Bank of Estes Park, which is not related to the other two. The “of Estes Park” is officially a part of the bank’s name, so there is a little less confusion there. In all, there are 17 separate Colorado charters for banks called First National Bank or First National Bank of (somewhere).

How long did it take people to realize that Bank of the West and Centennial Bank of the West are not the same institution? Probably not too long, given the different animal mascots for each institution – a horse for Centennial BoW and a bear for BoW. Of course, Centennial’s symbol used to be the stagecoach, but that had to change when Wells Fargo Bank entered the market. It would be much too confusing to have a team of horses hauling the logos of two banks in the same market.

While there are some banks in the region with strikingly similar monikers, it is a Denver-area bank that is raising red flags over a possible identity crisis caused by Northern Colorado’s newest bank.

Representatives from Aurora-based Commerce Bank attended the Nov. 16 Colorado Banking Board meeting at which the charter for Fort Collins-based Larimer Bank of Commerce was approved. Originally, the bank was to be named Larimer Commerce Bank, to distinguish it from its sister institution, Fort Collins Commerce Bank.

But officials at the Aurora bank made it known at an earlier bank board meeting that they took issue with the name. In fact, they also take issue with the name Fort Collins Commerce Bank.

“We made a compromise,´ said Mark Kross, president of the proposed Larimer Bank of Commerce. The bank received state approval of its charter at the November meeting, but is still awaiting approval from other banking regulators.

Kross said that it appeared that the Commerce Bank officials did not take issue with the new name. However, Jim Lewien, president of Commerce Bank, sees it a little differently.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Lewien said of the name change. “We would really like to see them discontinue use of the name.”

Lewien said there has already been confusion over the Fort Collins Commerce Bank name, with customers and other community members mistaking it for a branch of Commerce Bank.

While Commerce Bank is limited to its single Aurora location, Lewien said it attracts customers from all along the Front Range – especially to the north of the Denver area. That might explain why Commerce Bank isn’t pursuing a name change for American Bank of Commerce in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The Texas-based bank set up the branches in 2004.

Fort Collins Commerce Bank and Larimer Bank of Commerce are both held by Capitol Bancorp. The holding company operates on a model by which it assists in setting up community banks with local executives, boards and shareholders, and provides them backroom support. CEO Joseph Reid refers to Capitol as the “supportive uncle” of the community banks in its system.

Aurora’s Lewien contends that banks in the Capitol system more often use Community Bank and less frequently Sunshine Bank in their names, so there are other options for the Northern Colorado banks. Of the 50 banks in the Capitol system, about 13 use a name with “Community” in it and around 10 use “Commerce.”

“At this point, we’ve laid the claim to the name Commerce Bank in Colorado,” Lewien said.

Gerard Nalezny, president and CEO of Fort Collins Commerce Bank and board member of Larimer Bank of Commerce, indicated that his organization has no intention of changing the Fort Collins Commerce Bank title. However, Lewien is not backing down.

“There is ongoing litigation with Capitol Bancorp and Fort Collins Commerce Bank,” he said, explaining that the situation falls under trademark law.

Kross said he was unaware of any dispute outside of the Colorado Banking Board at this time. Kross and Nalezny are not concerned with the naming issue as they move forward with starting their second bank in less than two years.

Nalezny points out that bank names are hard to trademark. Just look at all the overlaps just in this market. He said that as of July 2005, there were 86 banks in the U.S. using “Commerce” in their name and 529 using “Community.”

So, would a bank by any other name smell so sweet? We’ll have to wait and see.

Kristen S. Bastian covers the banking industry for the Northern Colorado Business Report. She can be reached at (970) 221-5400, ext. 219 or [email protected].

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