Tomato Bank (), more commonly styled as TomatoBank, was an overseas Chinese bank in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Headquartered in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

, with branch offices in

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Diamond Bar, California Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census it had a population of 55,544, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 55,720. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron re ...

Industry, California City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is almost entirely industrial, containing over 3,000 businesses employing 67,000 people, with only 264 residents as of the ...

, and

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, this privately held community bank was first established on September 29, 2000. It was merged into Royal Business Bank in 2016 and branches were renamed to Royal Business Bank. The

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts 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 markets. Because ...

was established to serve the local

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

community, but unlike those traditional

overseas Chinese banks Overseas Chinese-focused banks excelled in commerce, finance, and many other industries. While catering to Chinese immigrants in foreign countries, these banks are not controlled by the Chinese government, nor do they have any ties with the Chinese ...

in the

established earlier, a significant portion of the

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts 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 markets. Because ...

clientele were wealthy Chinese

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s either engaged in international trade and real estate business, or professionals. One unique feature of the

was that unlike other banks, the bank's founder was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

instead of a

businessperson A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

: Dr. Stephen Liu. Dr. Liu's experience in

ing included being a member of the board of American International Bank. The bank originally adopted several names, including InterBusiness Bank, Inter Business Bank, Tomato Bank, and Acer Bank. However, customer surveys revealed that the name Tomato Bank was most popular, partially because it was easy to remember. As explained by the former Chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Dr. Stephen Liu, at a business reception in mid-2006: "''It is an attractive brand name that brings to mind images of growth, multi-culture and health, all characteristics that represent who we are and what we strive to achieve. But most importantly, it is a brand that is recognizable and hard to forget. If there can be an Apple Computer - why not a Tomatobank? Try to forget it. You can't!''" The bank was acquired by Royal Business Bank in February 2016. It is not related to the Japanese Tomato Bank.

References

External links

Royal Business Bank homepage
{{Portal, Banks Banks based in California Banks established in 2000 Chinese American banks Chinese-American culture in California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Privately held companies based in California Alhambra, California 2016 mergers and acquisitions Banks disestablished in 2016