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These days, executives of the Industrial Bank of Korea are in dilemma over the bank's English name. IBK's English name is "Fine Bank." The name is made up of the combination of "Financial" and "Network." It is easy to pronounce and has a good meaning but people confuse it with "Fine," or punishment money.
Accordingly, bank head Kang Kwon-suk said, "We are seriously considering changing our bank's English name to 'Key Bank.'" The Bank's mascot is a key, which is similar to the pronunciation of the first syllable of the bank's Korean name (Gi-eup eunhang)
Banks are having a tough time finding the right English name in the global era. Some banks are even going through the renaming process. Through their names, they are trying to present to foreigners the image of a "total financial group" grouping insurance, credit cards, bank account and securities.
Kookmin bank even changed its original English name to "KB" in order to be reborn as "A monetary group." The bank's former English name, "Kookmin," contained the term "Kook," which is an English slang term for a crazy person, prompting the bank to choose a different name.
Choheung Bank also took "CHB" as its English name, emphasizing the fact that it is becoming an international bank.
Although Wooribank is often pronounced as "Worry," the word "woori" possesses such a wide impact that the bank is not planning to change their English name yet.
On the other side, Jeil Bank is also having trouble with their original Korean name. The official English name of the bank is "Korea First Bank," but some people attempt to simply pronounce its Korean name, which can often be confused for "Jail Bank."
Koram Bank is awaiting its merger with Citibank, and attention is focusing on how it will decide its English name.
Workers of Koram Bank insist that its former English name "KorAm Bank" is not closely related to its original Korean name (Hanmi eunhang) anyway so it is a chance to get a properly related name which would bring an united image to the bank.
Neither "CiHan Bank," nor "HanCi Bank" will be picked because of their pronunciation reminds people of the Korea words for "time limit" (Korean: shihan-bu) and temporary (Korean: hanshi-jeok).
Director Seo Sang-hee of the brand consulting firm "Brand Manager" noted, "Banks' names are a core part of the brand marketing which shows the vision of each bank." Seo added, "A good English name is as important as the service competitive power in order to make inroads into foreign markets."
(Lee Kyung-eun, diva@chosun.com )
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