"Banq" and "banc" are alternative spellings used in company names to evade legal restrictions on the use of the word '

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

' while maintaining a similar pronunciation. This practice is common in the financial services industry, particularly in the United States.

Origin and usage

In the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, banq and banc are alternative spellings pronounced identically to the word "

". Both terms have been adopted by financial services companies and others to satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word ''bank''. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used in the names of

bank holding companies A bank holding company is a Holding company, company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The Compound (linguistics), compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + ''corporation, corp

ration Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...

') or banco ...

. For example, a hypothetical chartered bank named Bank of Manhattan might form a holding company named "Manhattan Bancorp", and a sister insurance business named "Banc of Manhattan Insurance". One well-known past example was

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

's investment banking entity, named

Banc of America Securities The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North ...

(now part of

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading pla ...

Legal basis

This practice originates from legal necessity: in the United States, the commerce departments of state governments generally prohibit or restrict the use of certain words in the names of corporations unless those corporations are legitimate chartered banks. For example, words prohibited by the state of Louisiana include ''bank, banker, banking, savings, safe deposit, trust, trustee'', and ''credit union''.

Examples

The evasive nature of the word does not necessarily indicate that an imposter is attempting to fraudulently impersonate a bank. One notable example is a company called ''Cachet Banq Inc.'', an automated clearing house processing service that performs automated banking transactions for

payroll A payroll is a list of employment, employees of a company who are entitled to receive compensation as well as other work benefits, as well as the amounts that each should obtain. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time ...

processing. The company does not claim to offer any

banking services Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ba ...

, such as

deposits A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below. ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s, and would only be able to legally include the word ''"bank"'' in its name in its home state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with the approval of the California Department of Financial Institutions. A similar example includes a company called ''Wine Banq'', whose name clearly suggests it has nothing to do with the banking industry.

Variations by jurisdiction

Naming laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as well as their interpretations. Notable counter-examples include

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...

s and

sperm bank A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donation, sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons f ...

Legal Implications

The use of 'banq' or 'banc' in company names has legal implications. While it allows companies to evoke banking associations, it does not exempt them from financial regulations. Companies using these terms must still comply with relevant laws and may face scrutiny from regulatory bodies to ensure they are not misleading consumers about their services.

Origin and usage

Legal basis

Examples

Variations by jurisdiction

Legal Implications

References

See also