Union First Market Bank has undergone a rebranding.
So long, First Market.
Richmond’s biggest community bank has finally shed one of the brands of its past. Union First Market Bank has officially been renamed Union Bank & Trust, the company announced this week.
The change is the final step in putting to rest the brand that was a remnant of the former First Market Bank. First Market was launched in Richmond in the late ‘90s and was owned in part by the Ukrop’s grocery chain.
The names were melded in 2010 when Union Bank acquired First Market. In addition to being a mouthful, the company realized the name needed a change after Union’s 2014 acquisition of StellarOne Bank.
“After the StellarOne merger, we were more than Union and First Market,” spokesman Bill Cimino said.
The company began by cutting the First Market name out of Union’s holding company last spring.
The $7.4 billion bank, which has been already marketing itself as Union in recent months, has 131 branches across the state. And that size makes a name change no easy feat, Cimino said.
The transition included not only changing signs at the bank’s branches, but updating everything down to the letterhead on a customer’s bank statements.
“We had to go in and change everywhere that First Market was mentioned,” Cimino said. “There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Taking on the Union Bank & Trust brand also takes the bank back to its roots. That was the name the bank had used since the early 1900s, up until it merged with First Market.
Union recently released its financial results for 2014, its first full year with StellarOne in the fold. The company reported a profit of $52.59 million for the year, up from $34.49 million in 2013. It had $5.63 billion in deposits at year’s end, up from $3.23 billion. Its loan portfolio finished the year at $5.34 billion, an increase from 2013’s $3.03 billion.
Union First Market Bank has undergone a rebranding.
So long, First Market.
Richmond’s biggest community bank has finally shed one of the brands of its past. Union First Market Bank has officially been renamed Union Bank & Trust, the company announced this week.
The change is the final step in putting to rest the brand that was a remnant of the former First Market Bank. First Market was launched in Richmond in the late ‘90s and was owned in part by the Ukrop’s grocery chain.
The names were melded in 2010 when Union Bank acquired First Market. In addition to being a mouthful, the company realized the name needed a change after Union’s 2014 acquisition of StellarOne Bank.
“After the StellarOne merger, we were more than Union and First Market,” spokesman Bill Cimino said.
The company began by cutting the First Market name out of Union’s holding company last spring.
The $7.4 billion bank, which has been already marketing itself as Union in recent months, has 131 branches across the state. And that size makes a name change no easy feat, Cimino said.
The transition included not only changing signs at the bank’s branches, but updating everything down to the letterhead on a customer’s bank statements.
“We had to go in and change everywhere that First Market was mentioned,” Cimino said. “There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Taking on the Union Bank & Trust brand also takes the bank back to its roots. That was the name the bank had used since the early 1900s, up until it merged with First Market.
Union recently released its financial results for 2014, its first full year with StellarOne in the fold. The company reported a profit of $52.59 million for the year, up from $34.49 million in 2013. It had $5.63 billion in deposits at year’s end, up from $3.23 billion. Its loan portfolio finished the year at $5.34 billion, an increase from 2013’s $3.03 billion.
I always thought the merged name should have been First Union Market Bank and since we knew it would change (as all banks do over and over again) they could call Wells Fargo and save on signs, letterhead, etc.
That is call themselves First Union Bank!