Why are banks changing their names? Wachovia to Wells Fargo

[Jaggy001]

My wife opened an account at Bay Bank which got acquired by Bank Boston which got acquired by Fleet Bank which got acquired by Bank of America. She still uses Bay Bank checks - which confuses our local B of A people - and refuses new checks unless they are free.

I may have missed a merger in there somewhere.

[SandyCo]

During the financial crisis in 2008, I ended up employed by a different entity (Bank of America, because they bought Merrill Lynch) and I also ended up banking with a different entity (J.P. Morgan Chase, because they bought all of Washington Mutual's accounts). Before my account was with Washington Mutual, I was a Great Western customer. *phew*

There are no more Wall Street firms. They're all owned by banks now, or they became bank holding companies (Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both did this).

It's interesting to see which brand names have survived; Merrill Lynch's has, despite everything that happened. Chase has rebranded everything; you'd never know my account was ever with WaMu unless you sneak a peek at my checkbook (I write one check per month - for rent, so it'll be a while before I need to order new ones!).

Here's another example: I had two MBNA credit cards. Then Bank of America bought out MBNA. Obviously, I now have B of A credit cards instead - that I pay off every month.

The same thing happened with my cell phone carrier. I started out with Cingular, and now I'm with AT&T.

[blueyes2]

When these mergers and buy outs affect me, I've noticed that the company from which I was getting better service is always the one that disappears in the transaction. My husband passed away owing something to a bank that I did not assume as my debt. Of course, years later that bank got absorbed by a bank that I dealt with. I was just waiting for them to try to saddle me with the defaulted debt. I don't trust any of them.

[PeteyNice]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

On a side note bank's are registered by their charter number. Wells-Fargo's number in the line up of all banks in the United states is #1. What that means is that they hold the number for the first national bank charter in the nation. They were not the original bank with the #1 spot. It is tradition in the banking industry to asume the earliest issued charter number, which is what happened when Wells-Fargo acquired First National Bank of Philadelphia.

That is partially true. It is true that Wells has bank charter #1 but they got it when they bought Wachovia which they got from First Union which they got from CoreStates Bank and on and on and on.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Wells Fargo historically was a bank that served the nation from Ocean to Ocean. Not only in banking but in transporting of goods, people, and mail delivery. Even today the Stagecoach is a company symbol. In 1869 Wells started switching to rail service and by 1888 became the first nationwide express company. By 1918 Wells Fargo had 10,000 locations nationaly and around the world. At that time due to the war the Government decided to take over segments of the Wells Fargo business. The company was split up and what was left became a San Francisco bank.

In 1998 Norwest Financial bought Wells-Fargo and changed the name of their company to the better known Wells-Fargo name. In 2008 Wells-Fargo offered a lot more than Citybank was offering for Wachovia and ended up with that company.

On a side note bank's are registered by their charter number. Wells-Fargo's number in the line up of all banks in the United states is #1. What that means is that they hold the number for the first national bank charter in the nation. They were not the original bank with the #1 spot. It is tradition in the banking industry to asume the earliest issued charter number, which is what happened when Wells-Fargo acquired First National Bank of Philadelphia.

Wells Fargo indeed has quite a storied history out west.

One very pleasant surprise for San Francisco is that after Wells Fargo was bought out by NorWest Financial of Minneapolis, the company decided to actually move their HQ from Minneapolis to San Francisco and they assumed WFs name.

Otherwise, Wells Fargo could have gone the way of most other banks who get bought out and their identities are lost forever.

[FreshFresh]

There were banks in the NYC/NJ area that were changed from Washington Mutual to Wachovia to Wells Fargo.