Wingspan Bank
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | June 24, 1999 |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Fate | Brand retired and merged into Bank One's online banking system |
| Headquarters | Wilmington, Delaware , United States |
Key people | Jim Stewart (CEO) |
| Products | Interest-bearing checking accounts, credit cards, IRAs, HELOCs, bill payment services |
| Parent | Bank One |
Wingspan Bank (marketed as Wingspanbank.com) was a U.S. financial institution that operated solely through the internet between 1999 and 2001. It functioned as a fully owned subsidiary of Bank One, with CEO Jim Stewart at the helm, who previously led Bank One's First USA division.
Wingspan officially launched on June 24, 1999, and adopted the tagline "If your bank could start over, this is what it would be." The bank implemented a robust online advertising strategy, capitalizing on Bank One’s collaborations with leading web portals such as America Online, MSN, Excite, and Lycos. Early promotions included a $100 bonus for the initial 10,000 account holders and a limited-time 10% introductory interest rate on new checking accounts.
Despite being a Bank One subsidiary, Wingspan maintained a separate brand identity with limited visible links to its parent company. Its exclusive online presence enabled it to provide more attractive fees and interest rates compared to Bank One’s branch network. The product lineup featured standard financial offerings like interest-bearing checking accounts, credit cards, Individual Retirement Accounts, and HELOCs, alongside bill payment services guaranteed for timely processing—although payments were frequently sent via mailed checks.
The lack of physical branches presented certain inconveniences for customers. While Wingspan users could access Bank One ATMs within the Bank One network without fees, deposits required mailing in, and ATM charges incurred outside the network were reimbursed up to $5 per month.
By September 2001, due to limited customer acquisition, Bank One retired the Wingspan brand and integrated its clientele into Bank One’s primary online banking system. This move paralleled similar strategies by competitors such as Citibank with Citi/fi, where standalone online banks merged with traditional banking operations.
Jim Stewart left Wingspan in late 1999 to found Juniper Financial.
See also
References
- Wingspan Bank presents Wingspan Product Management Group, LiveWorld, 1999-12-01
- Bank One Unleashes the First Net Banking Powerhouse, Jim Bruene, NetBanker.com, 1999-06-05
- WingspanBank.com Reinvents Online Model, Candee Wilde, Information Week, 1999-10-18
- Bank One's Wingspan Fails to Take Off Online, Maria Trombly, ComputerWorld, 2000-09-25
- First USA Founder and Former Wingspan CEO Team With Top Banking Industry Veterans to Form Juniper Financial, Erin Schlough, Spark PR, 2000-05-25
- Broken Wing, Megan Barnett, Industry Standard, 2000-05-15
- Bank One to Shutter WingspanBank.com, Los Angeles Times (Bloomberg News), 2001-06-29