Should Startup Bank Mondo Rebrand To McBankface?

Mond is a startup bank gaining a lot of attention, although not all of it is overly positive. As it turns out, the company will have to change its name due to a trademark dispute. Customers are now eligible to vote on the new name, and it is possible Banky McBankface will become the new brand name.

While it is positive to engage customers in a rebranding process, the current trend of renaming things may lead to some unexpected results. Ever since Boaty McBoatface became a trend – albeit it has been renamed ever since – opening up name voting to the public could lead to similar results, depending on which area one is active in.

Banky McBankface or Just McBankface?

Startup bank Mondo may see its voting efforts result in Banky McBankface as the new brand of the company. However, they would not be obliged to go with that name, as a bank has to maintain a professional allure. Regardless of which names customers vote on, the majority of existing branding and logo will remain in place, though. This also means the new name will have to start with an M.

Mondo CEO and Founder Tom Blomfield told the media:

“The trademark issue is annoying but I think in two or three months we’ll have forgotten that we were ever called Mondo. It’s an empty vessel that you bring meaning to. Going through the courts for a year and fighting this – we’ve just got much, much better things to be doing like getting the banking licence, fully launching, making a product that people love. We took the decision ultimately to switch and avoid legal quagmire.”

Involving customers and investors in the name-changing process is quite different from the way most banks would operate. For startup banks, their community is everything in these early stages, and Mondo wants to be a consumer-first bank moving forward as well. All of the proposals will be taken into account, after which the team will vet them through their own internal process.

It is unlikely Banky McBankface will become the new bank name, though. However, it is not impossible to think it would be the most voted on name, simply because it sounds funny and only one institution can be the first Banky McBankface. If everything goes according to plan, the rebranding process should be included in the next two to three weeks.

Once all of these rebranding woes are taken care of, the bank will continue their transition to a full bank. Moreover, their prepaid MasterCard service will cease to exist, and replaced by a full debit MasterCard one that happens. It would be interesting to see a [Banky] McBankface MasterCard though.

Source: Tech Insider

Images courtesy of Mondo