From Monday all the retail banks in Nordea will adopt the new name Nordea. Nordea, short for Nordic Ideas, will replace the previous names Unibank, Nordbanken, Merita and Christiania Bank in a joint renaming operation.

"This is a further step in the integration of Nordea. Our commitment is to make all best practices from each country available to customers in all the Nordic countries. Step by step we will develop better products and services," says Thorleif Krarup, Group CEO of Nordea.

At noon on Monday Nordea bank branches will start uncovering the new signage. The process of equipping every branch with new signage will be completed in the coming three months. In each country, special activities will help customers get accustomed to the new name of their local bank.

The retail banks in the four Nordic countries change their legal names to Nordea Bank Sweden AB (publ), Nordea Bank Finland Plc, Nordea Bank Denmark A/S and Nordea Bank Norge ASA, respectively. Nordea is already used in Corporate and Institutional Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management and for services outside the Nordic countries.

"Nordea means sharing and exchanging Nordic ideas. A common name will help us do that and it signals our determination to build the Nordea brand into a valuable asset for the Group and to deliver synergies across borders to create value for our customers and shareholders," says Thorleif Krarup.

"The name change reinforces the process of step by step implementation of joint products, services and processes. As the leading Nordic financial services group, Nordea aims to offer our customers Nordic best practice applied locally," says Lars G Nordström, Head of Retail Banking.

"During the merger processes we have stated that the Group would adopt a new name and a branding strategy to best support the business. A year ago Nordea was presented as the new name of the Group and we said that it would be applied by all entities when it was commercially sound to do so. Today's renaming is a response to faster-than-expected Group integration and customer awareness of the Nordea name," says Lars G Nordström.

In Lithuania Nordea banking services are provided from Merita Bank Plc Vilnius Branch. Vilnius Branch will also change its name to Nordea when the new name will be registered according to the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.