Bank of Putnam County Now One Bank of Tennessee

A long-time Upper Cumberland banking institution now has a new name.

The Bank of Putnam County Corporation has re-branded as One Bank of Tennessee.

Business Development Director John Story said the name change helps simplify the bank’s various names after BPC’s merger with Citizen’s First Bank.

“We sat back and thought, ‘Oh my goodness, here comes some more Bank ofs…,” Story said. “And we really just don’t think we want to do that anymore when you’re putting up ball field signs and all the promotion and everything in all these’s counties. Someone, after a lot of talk really said, ‘Gosh, we just need to become one bank. And there it was.”

Story said the merger with East Tennessee’s Citizens First Bank  went smoothly. The merger added branches in 5 different counties. One Bank of Tennessee now has 19 branches in 9 Tennessee counties. Another branch in Kingston is expected to open in 2021.

Story said the One Bank marketing effort should proceed quickly.

“We think the complete re-branding will be completed in, it’s hard to say exactly, but we’re looking at the end of June,” Story said. “We expect to have all of our signage in place, everything on our building changed, and it’s moving along very quickly. We have been planning this diligent since January.

The Bank of Putnam County was founded in 1901 in Monterey and has been in continuous operation since then. Story said there has been very little reorganization necessary since the merger was completed in October. He says they do not expect layoffs at any of the bank’s locations.

“Everything is going to remain the same,” Story said. “That’s been the beautiful part of this. The rebranding itself is just that. Everyone is still doing the same jobs they have been doing and will continue to do that. It’s exactly the same people doing exactly the same things. It’s just a new name.”

Story said the name change is one way the bank can adapt to change while remaining true to its history.

“The bank will be 119-years-old this fall,” Story said. “It has continuously operated for all of that time. It’s all been owned by the Ray family in Monterey. It is still owned by them. It will continue to be owned by them. Everything except the name is just the same as it always has been.”