A Moment in Bank History

Steve Hirsch: The Birth of chase.com

 

It was 1994. I was responsible for Chase's Electronic Banking (EB) unit.  The era of online banking was just beginning, and we were looking at ways to link our customers to the bank via personal computers. The idea of a website was in its infancy.

 
We wanted to use the name "chase.com".  Of course, we had to make sure that the URL was available. Lo and behold, it wasn't. A small company in Ohio had registered that name. I asked one of our team to contact the company and ask if they would transfer ownership of the name to Chase. Of course they would....for $50,000.  
 
I said do the deal. I guess in hindsight we got a bargain, but it was a scary day when we found out we did not have the rights to chase.com. As they say, all's well that ends well....
 
–– Stephen (Steve) Hirsch, SVP
Retired 1999

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A New Series

 

Do you have a story about something you did at Chase (or Chemical, Manufacturers Hanover or the other heritage banks) that helped change the way business was -- and is -- done? Do you want that bit of bank history preserved? Contact Andrea Axelrod at news@chasealum.org.

 

COMMENTS? Also write to Andrea...

 

From Ken Jablon: ...and chasealumni.org is registered and used by the Chase High School Alumni Association in Kansas. That's why we're chasealum.org.

 

Editor's Note: Myles Trachenberg said that he also worked on this project. He negotiated the $50,000 payment to Chase Electric, electricians who owned the web address, to obtain the URL chase.com for the Chase Manhattan Bank.