Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta and formerly known as Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc, spent $60 Million in December 2021 to purchase the trademark assets of Meta Financial Group. Meta Financial Group will be changing its name to Pathward later this year. They have secured Pathward.com.
The Pathward name represents the company’s commitment to helping individuals and small and medium sized businesses access financial services that promote economic mobility, as stated on the company website.
Expanding financial access is too complex and important to be a part-time activity, which is why we’ve made financial inclusion for all the heart of everything we do. Pathward signals our commitment to removing barriers that prevent millions of Americans from achieving access to the financial system. Our new name serves as a constant reminder of the importance of creating a path forward for the unbanked, underbanked, and underserved to help them achieve economic mobility.
Brett Pharr, CEO of MetaBank
Another Meta brand was not so lucky. They had Facebook attorneys offering them to sell the rights to their brand name months before the announcement of Facebook’s Meta. Meta Company’s founder, Nate Skulic, found the offer was too low and it wouldn’t have covered the cost of a complete rebrand. He also wanted to know the intent of the client and Facebook at the time wasn’t willing to share the details. A reach wasn’t reached and we don’t know how this dispute ended. Fact is, the Meta Company does not seem operational at the moment.
Facebook has, of course, secured Meta.com – Zuckerberg seems to have owned the the name for quite some time. It came as part of an acquisition Mark and his wife, Priscilla made in 2017 for their philanthropy organization.
Yesterday (22nd June 2022), Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebrand of Facebook Pay as Meta Pay. However, as of this moment, the MetaPay.com domain name still points to MetaBank’s service, Meta Payments.
If you’re asking yourself what’s with all the Metas, you’re not the only one! Given the $60 Million spent on trademarks, it is likely that this is just a temporary glitch and MetaPay will soon be found on the MetaPay.com domain name. In the meantime, I’m sure the MetaBank team won’t complain for the extra traffic and clients they get.
How does your brand name match your company vision? What new horizons can a better name open? Get in touch if you feel your brand deserves a better name, we are always happy to help.
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