Alison is a Washington Mutual customer (not me). Picking up the mail today, I saw "WaMu" branded mailer from Washington Mutual.

I have mixed feeling about this.

It’s one thing "Apple Computer Inc." changing their name to "Apple Inc.", or Nike being associate with the "swosh". I guess other financial institution simply has a easier time with their name such as "Schwab", "Fidelity", or "BA" (Band of America). "Washington Mutual" does seems long and serious.

Even before WaMu officially started calling themselves WaMu, customer (such as Alison) has been calling their bank "WaMu". 

Interesting side note, "WaMu" direct Chinese translation is "華美" – which is the Chinese name used by the East West Bank in the US. Branding crisis, anyone?