Key.com offers online banking services & more
Key Bank
Key Bank is the 12th largest bank in the United States. Its headquarters are located in the landmark building Key Tower in Cleveland, Ohio. Key Bank is owned by KeyCorp, one of the largest financial services providers in US.
Key Bank currently has a wide 13 state branch network organized into four geographic regions: Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Great Lakes and Northeast. The company provides, amongst others, investment management, retail and commercial banking or consumer finance. Having almost 19,000 employees and 1,129 million dollars net income in 2006, the company was ranked 319 on the well known and respected Fortune 500 list.
Website
Key.com is the perfect example of a modern banking site. While lacking in the corporate relations area, the website focuses almost exclusively on its clients. The concept of online banking clearly mirrors the company’s attitude towards instant and effective communication rather than the old fashioned, less effective type. A great deal of the website’s space is dedicated to attracting new customers, through a very thorough and detailed offer catalog.
The sections typical to corporate web design can still be found though buried in the dedicated “About Key” section. Understandable in a way, since Key Bank is only a subsidiary of KeyCorp, the interested reader can still find the relevant information that he is seeking as the page itself is very well structured.
History
KeyCorp was formed in 1994 by merging two older companies: Society Bank, Cleveland and Key Bank Albany, New York. The last one, for instance, extends its roots back in 1825 (Commercial Bank of Albany).
The history of the company that would become Key Bank is closely associated with the acquisition spree that the Albany based KeyCorp engaged in the 80’s and early 90’s. Staying away from large purchases, the company shifted its attention to small regional banks situated in regions usually discarded by New York bankers, such as Alaska. This policy, combined with a healthy approach of retaining the personnel of the newly acquired banks meant that the company was less at risk from local conditions, as a recession in one part of US would usually be counterbalanced in another.
As a downside though, the company became very expensive to run, especially in the 80’s when secure communication between banks was a vague concept, still in its infancy. This changed in 1991 when the bank became one of the few to establish an electronic communication network between its branches. This had a profound impact on the effectiveness of the bank and ultimately led to the creation of the Key Bank in 1994.
Since 1994, the company gradually evolved and ultimately managed to become and retain the title of one of the top banks in US.
Impact
As the banking sector does not usually make the headlines, it is normal that a bank such as Key to have a low profile. Obviously Key Bank does have an impact at local level, through its numerous initiatives and sponsorships as well due to its relatively large customer base, but beyond that, for the general public the company is pretty much unknown.
The situation changes drastically once we enter the banking circles. Key Bank made history along the years, by acting as a maverick and going against what was seen at the time as “common sense” through its acquisition spree. The sound financial results, also made it popular with the Wall Street crowd where the company in itself is extremely respected.
Languages
English
