Wingspan Bank (branded as Wingspanbank.com) was a U.S.

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 ...

operating solely via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

from 1999 to 2001. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of

Bank One Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...

. The CEO was Jim Stewart, previously of the parent bank's

First USA Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, 2 ...

division. The bank began operations on June 24, 1999, with the marketing slogan "If your bank could start over, this is what it would be." An aggressive online marketing campaign was carried out to promote the bank, which also received wide coverage in mainstream financial press. The venture also benefited from its parent's existing marketing agreements with major web portals such as America Online,

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

, and

Excite Excitation, excite, exciting, or excitement may refer to: * Excitation (magnetic), provided with an electrical generator or alternator * Excite Ballpark, located in San Jose, California * Excite (web portal), web portal owned by IAC * Electron ex ...

. A marketing agreement was also entered into with then-major search engine/portal

Lycos Lycos, Inc., is a web search engine and web portal established in 1994, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, web hosting, social networking, and entertainment websites. The company is based in Walth ...

. An additional incentive was the promise of a $100 reward to the first 10,000 customers. There was also an introductory 10% interest for a short period when opening a new checking account. Despite being owned by Bank One, an existing

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

banking institution based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Wingspan was branded wholly separately and with minimal acknowledgment of the relationship. As a result, Wingspan's online-only operation effectively competed with Bank One's own online presence, particularly as the online bank's lack of physical presence allowed it to provide better fees and rates for customers. The bank provided most traditional financial services from interest-bearing checking accounts to credit cards,

Individual Retirement Account An individual retirement account (IRA) in the United States is a form of pension provided by many financial institutions that provides tax advantages for retirement savings. It is a trust that holds investment assets purchased with a taxpayer's e ...

s and HELOCs. It also provided bill pay, with on-time payment guarantee, although the payment was physically done via the bank mailing a check to the payee in most cases. The lack of physical presence was ultimately a negative for the bank. While customers were able to use Bank One ATMs for free, they could not use any physical bank branches. Non-electronic deposits had to be made via postal mail. The bank refunded up to $5 in ATM fees per month for customers not living in Bank One's footprint. By September 2001, Bank One discontinued the Wingspan brand and rolled the online bank's customers into Bank One's existing online service as regular account holders. The parent company cited the online bank's inability to attract a sufficient number of customers as the reason for its closure. The reintegration of Bank One's online venture followed a similar action by Citibank with its Citi/fi brand, and other online banks such as Telebank merged with or entered into service agreements with physical banks. CEO Jim Stewart left Wingspan in late 1999 to form Juniper Financial.

References

* * * * * * * {{cite web, url=https://articles.latimes.com/2001/jun/29/business/fi-16424, title=Bank One to Shutter WingspanBank.com, author=Los Angeles Times, work=Bloomberg News, date=2001-06-29 Banks based in Delaware Online financial services companies of the United States Banks established in 1999 Companies based in Wilmington, Delaware 1999 establishments in Delaware Defunct banks of the United States

See also

References