Forty-two brand guides to banks, insurers and payment brands.
Financial brands rely on trust, so their marks change rarely and mergers are carefully renamed. These guides cover banks, insurers and payment companies, with ownership changes stated with dates.
How to use these guides
Each guide covers who owns the name today, where the products are made — by the maker’s own account and, where it differs, by other sources — and the brand’s visual identity. A company’s description of itself is attributed to the company, and where a business has closed we say so plainly. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Banks
Capital One, PNC and TD Bank.
- Capital One — The card business Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris built inside Richmond’s Signet Bank from 1988, spun off as Oakstone Financial in 1994 and renamed Capital One in 1995, known for “What’s in your wallet?” and a swoosh logo, and approved to merge with Discover in 2025.
- PNC — A name formed from the shared initials of Pittsburgh National Corporation and Philadelphia’s Provident National Corporation, merged in 1982–83, carrying a triangular symbol the company dates to 1959 and to Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle; renamed The PNC Financial Services Group in 2000.
- TD Bank — The U.S. bank of Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank, built from Banknorth (TD Banknorth from 2004–05) and Cherry Hill’s Commerce Bancorp (bought 31 March 2008), carrying the TD initials of a 1955 Toronto merger and a green that runs back to TD’s Green Machine cash machines.
Insurance
GEICO, Progressive, State Farm, Allstate and Aflac.
- GEICO — The Government Employees Insurance Company founded in Texas in 1936 by Leo and Lillian Goodwin, moved to Washington in 1937, owned outright by Berkshire Hathaway since 1996, and advertised through The Martin Agency’s Gecko (1999) and Cavemen (2004).
- Progressive — The auto insurer begun in Cleveland in 1937 by attorneys Joseph M. Lewis and J. H. Green as Progressive Mutual Insurance Co., led from 1965 by Peter B. Lewis, publicly held since 1971, based in Mayfield Village, Ohio, and advertised since 2008 through Flo.
- State Farm — The mutual auto insurer founded in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1922 by farmer and salesman George J. Mecherle, marked by interlocked ovals from 1953 and a simplified three-oval logo from 2012, and sung since 1971 to Barry Manilow’s “Like a good neighbor” jingle.
- Allstate — The insurer Sears started in 1931 under the name of its own tire line, the “You’re in good hands” line and cupped-hands mark of the 1950s, Ed Reimers, Dennis Haysbert and Leo Burnett’s Mayhem, and the 1993–1995 split from Sears.
- Aflac — The insurer the Amos brothers founded in Columbus, Georgia, in 1955 as American Family Life, the Aflac trade name adopted in 1988–1989, and the duck that has quacked the name in advertising since 1999 or 2000, as sources date it.
Payments and money transfer
Discover, Western Union, Venmo and Cash App.
- Discover — The credit card Sears trialled in Atlanta in 1985 through the Greenwood Trust Company, carried by Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley, independent as Discover Financial Services from 2007 and owned by Capital One since May 2025.
- Western Union — Founded in Rochester, New York, in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, renamed in 1856, restructured in 1987, sold to First Financial Management in 1994, spun off by First Data in 2006 and headquartered in Denver.
- Venmo — Venmo’s identity: the payment app Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail founded in 2009, bought by Braintree in 2012 and owned by PayPal since 2013, with a wordmark, a V monogram for its app icon and a published PMS 2727 C blue.
- Cash App — Cash App’s identity: launched by Square on 13 October 2013 as Square Cash, an email-based way to send money, given a bright lime green during design, the $cashtag in 2015 and a parent renamed Block in 2021.
Payment
Zelle.
- Zelle — The payments network run by Early Warning Services, a company owned by banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo; successor to clearXchange (2011), renamed Zelle in 2016, rolled out inside banking apps from June 2017, with purple claimed as a mark.
Banks and insurance
Bank of America, U.S. Bank and Nationwide.
- Bank of America — Founded in San Francisco in 1904 by Amadeo Peter Giannini as the Bank of Italy, renamed Bank of America in 1930, issuer of BankAmericard from 1958, and joined with NationsBank in 1998 under the Bank of America name, with its head office in Charlotte.
- U.S. Bank — A name that began with the United States National Bank of Portland in 1891, was adopted by Minneapolis’s First Bank System in 1997, and was kept again when Firstar of Milwaukee merged with U.S. Bancorp in 2001, with the company based in Minneapolis.
- Nationwide — The Columbus, Ohio insurer set up by the Ohio Farm Bureau in 1926 as Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, renamed Nationwide in 1955, and known for the “Nationwide is on your side” jingle written by Steve Karmen in 1969 and later sung by Jill Scott and others.
International banks
BNP Paribas, UBS, DBS Bank and ING.
- BNP Paribas — The Paris bank formed in May 2000 from the merger of BNP and Paribas, whose “courbe d’envol” logo of stars turning into swallows was designed by the agency Altaï under creative director Laurent Vincenti, set beside an all-capitals name.
- UBS — The Swiss bank formed in 1998 from the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation, which kept the three-letter name of one parent and the three keys drawn by the Swiss artist Warja Lavater for the other.
- DBS Bank — The Development Bank of Singapore set up by the government in 1968, whose 1972 red logo took its shape from the caissons of its Shenton Way headquarters, which renamed itself DBS Bank in 2003 and adopted “Live more, Bank less” in 2018.
- ING — The Dutch group formed in 1991 when NMB Postbank Groep and the insurer Nationale-Nederlanden merged as Internationale Nederlanden Groep, whose lion, inherited from Postbank, turned from blue to orange when the Postbank name was retired in 2009.
International insurance
Allianz, AXA, Aviva, Prudential plc, Zurich Insurance, MetLife, AIG and Generali.
- Allianz — The insurer founded in 1889 and trading in Berlin from February 1890, which simplified its brand in 2006 and has put its name on stadiums from Munich’s Allianz Arena, opened in 2005, to London’s Twickenham, renamed Allianz Stadium in 2024.
- AXA — The Paris insurer that grew from a Rouen mutual of 1817 and, under Claude Bébéar, took the three-letter name AXA in July 1985, chosen after a search for a word pronounced the same way in every language; it was later applied to UAP, The Equitable and National Mutual.
- Aviva — The London insurer formed as CGNU in 2000 from Norwich Union and CGU, renamed Aviva in 2002 with a logo triangle drawn from the spire of Norwich Cathedral, which retired the Norwich Union name in the UK as part of its move to a single worldwide brand.
- Prudential plc — The insurer founded in Hatton Garden, London, in 1848, whose seal and later corporate mark show the figure of Prudence; after the demerger of M&G in 2019 and of Jackson in 2021 the group focused on Asia and Africa, while the UK business now trades as Pru.
- Zurich Insurance — Founded in 1872 as the reinsurer Versicherungs-Verein, renamed after its home city in 1875, called Zurich Financial Services from 1998 to 2012, and in March 2022 temporarily removed its stand-alone “Z” from social media.
- MetLife — Metropolitan Life Insurance Company from 1868, a tower slogan, Peanuts characters in its advertising from 1985 until the 31-year relationship ended in October 2016, and a blue and green “M” by Prophet under the line “Navigating life together.”
- AIG — Cornelius Vander Starr’s American Asiatic Underwriters, founded in Shanghai in 1919, gathered under American International Group in 1967, and relaunched under the AIG name with a new logo and the line “Bring on tomorrow” in November 2012.
- Generali — Assicurazioni Generali, founded in Trieste in December 1831 as an Austrian-Italian “general” insurer, which swapped the Habsburg double-headed eagle for the winged Lion of St Mark and in January 2014 made a redrawn lion its single symbol worldwide.
Asian banks
OCBC, UOB, Maybank, CIMB, Standard Chartered and MUFG.
- OCBC — The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation formed in Singapore on 31 October 1932 from the merger of three banks, renamed OCBC Bank with a new logo in 1989, whose 2023 refresh kept the Chinese sailing ship and added the tagline “For now, and beyond”.
- UOB — Founded in Singapore in 1935 as United Chinese Bank by Wee Kheng Chiang and six partners, renamed United Overseas Bank in 1965, given a new logo in 1972, and the organiser of the UOB Painting of the Year competition held since 1982.
- Maybank — Malayan Banking, incorporated in 1960 and opened in Kuala Lumpur that September by Khoo Teck Puat and Oei Tjong Ie, whose 2011 refresh by The Bonsey Design Partnership kept the name, the colour yellow and the tiger head symbol.
- CIMB — The Malaysian group whose four letters stand for Commerce International Merchant Bankers, a name taken in 1986, with roots in the Bian Chiang Bank founded in Kuching in 1924, and which was launched as CIMB Group on 7 September 2006.
- Standard Chartered — The London-headquartered bank named after the 1969 merger of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, chartered in 1853, and the Standard Bank, founded in the Cape in 1862, whose name has appeared on Liverpool FC shirts since July 2010.
- MUFG — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the Tokyo group formed in 2005 by the merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings, whose core bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, took the MUFG Bank name from April 2018.
Insurance and finance
AIA, Great Eastern, Manulife, Liberty Mutual, Farmers Insurance, USAA, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
- AIA — The insurer that traces its roots to an American firm set up in Shanghai in 1919, listed in Hong Kong in 2010, and has carried its three letters on the front of Tottenham Hotspur shirts in all competitions since the 2014/15 season.
- Great Eastern — The Singapore life insurer founded in 1908, whose lion emblem the company traces through redesigns in 1910, 1950, 1970 and 2001, and which unveiled a refreshed lion and wordmark with the tagline “An OCBC Company” in August 2025.
- Manulife — The Toronto insurer incorporated as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company in 1887 with John A. Macdonald as its first president, which dropped “Financial” from its brand from 2014 and launched a brighter green logo and its own typeface in 2018.
- Liberty Mutual — The Boston insurer founded in 1912 as the Massachusetts Employees Insurance Association and renamed in 1917, whose Truth Tellers ads are filmed in front of the Statue of Liberty and whose LiMu Emu and Doug mascots arrived in February 2019.
- Farmers Insurance — The Los Angeles exchange founded in 1928 by John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey, whose management company Zurich has owned since 1998, and whose advertising stars J.K. Simmons as Professor Burke with the line “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.”
- USAA — The association formed by 25 Army officers at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio on 20 June 1922, renamed the United Services Automobile Association in 1924, which marked its centenary in 2022 with a time capsule to be opened in 2072.
- Goldman Sachs — The New York firm Marcus Goldman founded in 1869 and named Goldman Sachs & Co. in 1885, whose Lippincott blue box dates from 1970, whose GS ligature was dropped in 2020 and brought back in 2024.
- Morgan Stanley — The firm Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley opened at 2 Wall Street on 16 September 1935, which merged with Dean Witter Discover in 1997 and returned to the plain name Morgan Stanley, with a new logo, in April 2001.
At a glance: founding, owner and base
Taken from each guide’s fact panel, as of October 2026. Ownership changes; follow the link for sources and detail.
| Brand | Founded | Owner | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aflac | Columbus, Georgia (1955) | Founders: John, Paul and William Amos | Mascot: The Aflac Duck |
| AIA | Roots: American Asiatic Underwriters, Shanghai (1919) | Founder: Cornelius Vander Starr | Spurs shirt: All competitions |
| AIG | Shanghai (1919) | Founded by: Cornelius Vander Starr | Relaunched: AIG brand, “Bring on tomorrow” |
| Allianz | Munich, trading in Berlin (1889–1890) | Founders: Carl von Thieme and Wilhelm von Finck | Named venues: Allianz Arena, Munich |
| Allstate | Chicago, Illinois (1931 (as a Sears company)) | The Allstate Corporation, Northbrook address | Today: The Allstate Corporation, Northbrook address |
| Aviva | Formed as CGNU: Norwich Union and CGU (2000) | Renamed Aviva: Shareholder vote in April | Single brand: Norwich Union and Hibernian renamed |
| AXA | Roots: Rouen mutual (1817) | Renamed: Mutuelles Unies | Not an acronym: Short, readable in any language |
| Bank of America | Bank of Italy, San Francisco (1904) | Bank of America Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina | Today: Bank of America Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina |
| BNP Paribas | Paris (2000) | Merger of: BNP and Paribas | Symbol: Stars turning into swallows |
| Capital One | Signet Bank, Richmond, Virginia (1988 (card unit)) | Founders: Richard Fairbank, Nigel Morris | Known for: “What’s in your wallet?”, the swoosh logo |
| Cash App | By Square as Square Cash (2013) | Block, Inc. (named Square until 2021) | Design lead: Robert Andersen, Square creative director (2013) |
| CIMB | Roots: Bian Chiang Bank, Kuching (1924) | Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur | Today: Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur |
| DBS Bank | Singapore (1968) | Named DBS Bank since 2003 | Today: Named DBS Bank since 2003 |
| Discover | Trial launch: Sears store in Atlanta, Georgia (1985) | Part of Capital One Financial Corporation since May 2025 | Today: Part of Capital One Financial Corporation since May 2025 |
| Farmers Insurance | Downtown Los Angeles (1928) | Founders: John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey | Professor Burke series: Sesame Street spots by RPA |
| GEICO | Texas (San Antonio, per Wikipedia); moved to Washington, D.C. in 1937 (1936) | Owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1996; Maryland headquarters | Today: Owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1996; Maryland headquarters |
| Generali | Trieste (1831) | Founded as: Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche | Single symbol: Redrawn lion, group-wide |
| Goldman Sachs | New York City (1869) | Name adopted: Goldman Sachs & Co. | Ligature: Dropped 2020, restored |
| Great Eastern | Singapore (1908) | Founder: Alfred Hewton Fair | Logo refreshed: Design Bridge and Partners |
| ING | Netherlands (1991) | ING Groep, Amsterdam | Today: ING Groep, Amsterdam |
| Liberty Mutual | Massachusetts Employees Insurance Association, Boston (1912) | Renamed: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company | New puppet: Liberty Biberty |
| Manulife | Incorporated: The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (1887) | First president: John A. Macdonald | New green logo: In-house team, Hong Kong |
| Maybank | Kuala Lumpur (1960) | Malayan Banking Berhad, trading as Maybank | Today: Malayan Banking Berhad, trading as Maybank |
| MetLife | New York (1868) | Blue and green “M” by Prophet | Today: Blue and green “M” by Prophet |
| Morgan Stanley | 2 Wall Street, New York (1935) | Founders: Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, with colleagues | Name shortened: Morgan Stanley, with a new logo |
| MUFG | Tokyo (2005) | Merger of: Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings | Head office: Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo |
| Nationwide | Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio (1926) | Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, headquartered at One Nationwide Plaza, Columbus | Today: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, headquartered at One Nationwide Plaza, Columbus |
| OCBC | Singapore (1932) | Named OCBC Bank since 1989; logo refreshed 2023 | Today: Named OCBC Bank since 1989; logo refreshed 2023 |
| PNC | Traces to: Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company, Pittsburgh (1845) | The PNC Financial Services Group, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Today: The PNC Financial Services Group, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Progressive | Cleveland, Ohio (as Progressive Mutual Insurance Co.) (1937) | The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, Ohio | Today: The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, Ohio |
| Prudential plc | Hatton Garden, London (1848) | Symbol: The figure of Prudence | Head offices: London and Hong Kong |
| Standard Chartered | Chartered Bank: Royal charter (1853) | Standard Bank: Cape Province | Shirt sponsor: Liverpool FC |
| State Farm | Bloomington, Illinois (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company) (1922) | Mutual group headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois | Today: Mutual group headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois |
| TD Bank | Parent formed: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto, from the Bank of Toronto and The Dominion Bank (1955) | TD Bank, N.A., U.S. subsidiary of TD Bank Group, based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey | Today: TD Bank, N.A., U.S. subsidiary of TD Bank Group, based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey |
| U.S. Bank | Name first used: United States National Bank of Portland, Oregon (1891) | U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota | Today: U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| UBS | Zurich and Basel (1998) | Merger of: Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation | Name: UBS, no longer an acronym |
| UOB | Singapore (1935) | Named United Overseas Bank since 1965 | Today: Named United Overseas Bank since 1965 |
| USAA | Gunter Hotel, San Antonio (1922) | Founders: A group of 25 U.S. Army officers | Centenary: Time capsule set for 2072 |
| Venmo | By Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail (2009) | Owners: Braintree from 2012; PayPal since 2013 | Logo colour: PMS 2727 C, hex #008CFF (company guidelines) |
| Western Union | New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, Rochester, New York (1851) | The Western Union Company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado | Today: The Western Union Company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado |
| Zelle | clearXchange, launched by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo (2011) | A network run by Early Warning Services, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona | Today: A network run by Early Warning Services, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Zurich Insurance | Zurich, Switzerland (1872) | Founded as: Versicherungs-Verein (reinsurer) | Known for: A single-letter “Z” mark |
See also all collections.