Commerce Bank or Bank of Commerce - what's the difference?

None really. That is the stance taken by several Northern Colorado banks that have been haggling about the Commerce name since last fall.

Officials at Aurora-based Commerce Bank took issue with the use of "Commerce" in a pair of sister banks in Fort Collins. Fort Collins Commerce Bank opened in the summer of 2005, after receiving approval from the Colorado Division of Banking to use the name.

Fort Collins Commerce is a locally chartered community bank that operates using the Capitol Bancorp model, explained bank president Gerard Nalezny. Capitol is technically a bank holding company that provides early financial and startup support as well as backroom operations assistance to banks that have their own local shareholders and boards of directors.

Fort Collins Commerce Bank launched without a hitch, but when it came time to open another bank, Commerce Bank jumped to action.

Representatives from the Aurora 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.

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

"We made a compromise," said Mark Kross, president of the Larimer Bank of Commerce, in December. The bank opened in May.

At the time, 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, saw 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."

When Commerce Bank became a takeover target of a larger, out-of-state institution in April, the naming issue got a little more complicated. The acquirer was Kansas City, Mo.-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. The company has more than 300 bank locations in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois, all operating under the Commerce Bank name.

Also complicating matters was the fact that two more banks under the Capitol Bancorp umbrella were preparing to open - one in Westminster and one in Loveland - both seeking to use Commerce in their names to show the relationship with their sister banks.

On June 28, a resolution was reached between Commerce Bank and Capitol Bancorp.

"Going forward, we can use the name Bank of Commerce," said Capitol spokeswoman Angela Kimber.

The agreement, which applies to any Capitol Bancorp bank in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois, allows Fort Collins Commerce Bank to continue as an exception to the rule.

Nalezny said that the Capitol Bancorp system is working well here in Colorado. Loveland Bank of Commerce could open late this fall, pending regulatory approval, and Mountain View Bank of Commerce should be open in early 2008.

"I think the bottom line is the Capitol model is gaining traction nationwide," he said.



By any other name, still a bank

Another Colorado bank is heading off a legal dispute by agreeing to change its name. Longmont-based Horizon Banks will become Mile High Bank.

Tennessee-based First Horizon National Corp. entered the Colorado market in 2006. It operates First Tennessee Bank dba First Horizon in Greenwood Village.

A trademark battle would have been one of David vs. Goliath. Longmont-based Horzon's holding company claims $1.1 billion in assets compared to $38.5 million for First Horizon.

"In order to prevent costly litigation fees the bank would have incurred, we decided to change our name," said Horizon CEO and Chairman Dan Allen.

The change is actually a good one for the bank, according to Allen. Horizon Bank started in Limon in 1919. It wasn't until a new group of investors infused capital into the bank's holding company in 2001 that it began to expand beyond the small plains town.

Today, the bank has 14 offices in the counties of Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Jefferson and Larimer.

He said the plan is to continue expansion along the Front Range, with prospective locations as far south as Parker. Horizon opened its Loveland office in September 2004. Allen said there are no immediate plans for any locations north of that but that the bank is always looking for new opportunities.

For now, Horizon will focus on becoming Mile High. Allen hopes to have the transition, which includes new signage, completed by November.

"It's a big undertaking to rebrand," he said. "It's nothing we can't handle."



Kristen Tatti covers the banking industry for the  Business Report. She can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 219 or ktatti@ncbr.com.