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Like how the "bank" in "Bank of America" is redundant and wasteful? To clarify, I don't really care either way- I'm sure they had other reasons for dropping th
by evan_ 15y ago
Like how the "bank" in "Bank of America" is redundant and wasteful?
To clarify, I don't really care either way- I'm sure they had other reasons for dropping the "Bank" from their name, especially since they're not really a bank.
- tdoggette 15y agoWells Fargo and Suntrust are well-known banks, too.
- corin_ 15y agoOfficial name "SunTrust Bank", owned by "SunTrust Banks, Inc." Official name "Wells Fargo Bank, N.A." owned by "Wells Fargo & Company".
- chc 15y agoThat's precisely the point vaporstun was making — we commonly omit the "Bank" from those names because it's seen as redundant.
- corin_ 15y agoBut I was replying to tdoggette not vaporstun, who was making (I think) the opposite point. So my response was to point out that actually the banks we think of as not having "bank" in the name do, and it hasn't stopped us from referring to them without it. So if they stuck with Bank Simple, it would help people initially understand what they do, then once (if) they become a household name, people could refer to them as "Simple". Of course, this is all ignoring the whole legislation stuff.
- rapind 15y ago"America" sounds so much better!
- qxb 15y agoMany banks in the UK are referred to, and understood, in everyday language without the "bank": Barclays, Halifax, Natwest, Santander, Lloyds to name a few.
- CognitiveLens 15y agoI think an important difference is that those are relatively unique words, unlike Simple, which is common and ambiguous. Telling someone that you have your money in a simple account doesn't convey as much meaning as telling someone you have your money in a Barclay's account.
- qxb 15y agoThat's a very good point well put. "Simple account" might even be a description of the level of account you have, causing further confusion.
- tadfisher 15y agoColloquially, they're "B of A".
- botker 15y agoThat's true in the Bay Area at least, but not necessarily everywhere. Back when I was their customer I recall visiting NYC, and asking several random strangers if they knew where I could find a "B of A", and none of them knew what I was talking about, until I clarified, "Bank of America".
- brendn 15y agoI'm a New Yorker and I know what you mean by "B of A," as do many of the people I know. I think we're both dealing with small anecdotal data sets here, though.
- infinite8s 15y agoThat could also depend on when he visited. NYC is still ruled by Chase - there's one almost every other block, whereas I struggle to find BofA ATMs.
- __david__ 15y agoAnd I call it "bowfah" myself.