After more than a year of planning, TD Banknorth will chop its name in half this fall, and become TD Bank, a change that is part of an aggressive rebranding campaign that the company hopes will support future growth and new customer service initiatives.
The change has been in the works since March 2008, when TD Banknorth’s parent company, TD Bank Financial Group, acquired New Jersey-based Commerce Bank for $8.5 billion. As a result of that transaction, the operations of TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank will be combined under the new brand name TD Bank. The company will also adopt the new tagline “America’s Most Convenient Bank.”
Conversion of all retail locations to TD Bank is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“This was always part of the plan after TD Bank bought Commerce Bank,” said Michael Hensinger, TD Banknorth’s Connecticut market president and chief lending officer. “This was part of a very well thought out integration between the two companies.”
TD Bank is one of the 15 largest commercial banks in the United States with $126 billion in assets. It provides a full range of financial products and services at more than 1,000 locations from Maine to Florida including 23 full service offices in Greater Hartford and over 80 in all of Connecticut.
Previously, TD Bank had planned to change its name to TD Commerce Bank, but retreated from that decision after another bank, Massachusetts-based Commerce Bank & Trust, filed a lawsuit against them for name infringement.
Jennifer Carlson, a spokeswoman for TD Bank, said rather than spend money in court trying to fight the suit, the company decided to adopt the name TD Bank instead.
Regardless, Hensinger said the rebranding is meant to focus solely on “customer service and customer satisfaction,” with the hopes of luring new business away from its competitors in the Northeast and across the country.
TD Bank had $4.5 billion in deposits in Connecticut as of June 30, 2008, giving it 5.4 percent of the state’s market share, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Bank of America, Webster Bank and People’s Bank are the three dominant banks in the state owning 21 percent, 12 percent, 11 percent of the state’s market share respectively.
To live up to its new tagline, Hensinger said the bank will add more locations over the next year, extend store and drive-up hours, including being open seven days a week, and provide live customer service 24/7.
The bank also plans to improve its online banking capabilities and provide free coin counting machines to customers.
“The goal is to try to become the most convenient bank in America,” Hensinger said. “We want these changes to show that we are open for business, are willing to lend, and are focused on growing in all market segments.”
TD Bank has also launched an aggressive marketing campaign, which includes television commercials featuring Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, stars of the popular morning show “Live with Regis and Kelly.”
TD Bank isn’t alone in a name change. The Hartford Business Journal reported last week that Farmington Savings Bank filed an application with the state banking department to change its name to Farmington Bank.
The new name, pending approvals, will take effect in October and reflects the bank’s growth strategy announced earlier this year. It includes a new 53,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Farmington, an expanded senior leadership team and the addition of government banking and cash management services to its business portfolio.
“The subtle name change preserves our 158-year legacy as a Connecticut bank based in Farmington as well as reflects our modern state as a diversified consumer and commercial bank,” said John J. Patrick, Jr., Farmington Savings Bank chairman, president and CEO.
Patrick said the bank is dumping “Savings” from its name because it signifies a smaller institution that has only limited offerings.
“As we talked to a broader spectrum of influences in the region they didn’t realize we had the commercial lending capacities we now have,” Patrick said.
“We are not just a savings bank anymore and we want the name change to reflect that.”
Steve Wolfberg, partner and president of Cronin and Co., a marketing communications firm in Glastonbury, said the name changes represent an interesting contrast.
He said by dropping the word “Savings,” Farmington Bank is trying to shift its image from a small time neighborhood bank, to a larger institution looking to compete for greater market share in the region.
Wolfberg said TD Bank’s name change is more subtle and won’t have as much of an impact on consumers.
“I don’t know if it will make much of a difference compared to the Farmington Savings name change,” Wolfberg said. “I actually think having Regis and Kelly as spokespersons in the commercial will get people to notice them more.”
Greg Bordonaro is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
