Commerce Bancorp
 |
|
| Industry | Bank holding company |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by TD Bank, N.A. |
| Successor | TD Bank, N.A. |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Cherry Hill, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Products | Financial services |
Commerce Bancorp was a Cherry Hill, New Jersey–based bank created in 1973. In 2007, it was purchased by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which merged Commerce with TD Banknorth to form TD Bank, N.A.; all of its banks and branches were given the TD Bank logo.
The company was founded in 1973 by fast-food restaurant franchise owner Vernon Hill, a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Hill sought to bring fast food convenience to banking and expanded Commerce from one location to over 435 in thirty-three years. With growth of over sixty-five new stores opening annually, the company had planned to reach at least 800 stores by 2010. During the early-mid 2000s, television advertisements for Commerce Bank featured Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin. In 2006 Commerce purchased eMoney Advisor for $32 million in stock.
Commerce's philosophy was that they were retailers, not bankers, and went so far as to call their various locations stores, not branches.
Features that Commerce offered its customers included:
Commerce Bank's business model generated what some called a cult following in the areas where they had stores. Commerce offered its customers merchandising giveaways such as coffee mugs, pens and pencils; in 2006 alone, the locations gave out 28 million free pens.
It was called Mc-Bank because Vernon Hill used his knowledge of the fast food chains he owned and applied it to the banking industry.
This model was described in the case of study HBS 9-603-080 from Harvard Business School, published in 2002.
As with many companies, Commerce Bank had an official mascot: Mr.C. Mr.C was the Commerce Bank logo, a red c, with black arms and black legs. He always had a huge smile and large bushy eyebrows.
Buzz Bee was also a mascot for the bank. However, Buzz was used primarily as an internal mascot for the "WOW! members" (i.e. the employees).
...
Wikipedia