Community Bank System changes name to Community Financial System

DeWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank’s parent company has a new name.

Community Bank System, Inc. announced it has changed its corporate name to Community Financial System, Inc., effective immediately. It says the new name better reflects the company’s broader business model and mission in contributing to the prosperity of the communities it serves through its four business units – Community Bank N.A.; Benefit Plan Administrative Services, Inc. (BPAS); OneGroup, Inc.insurance; and wealth management.

“The new name — Community Financial System — allows us to emphasize the evolution of our capabilities, solutions, and focus,” President/CEO Dimitar A. Karaivanov said in a press release announcing the name change. “We have diligently diversified, invested in and nurtured our four key businesses, and today offer a comprehensive set of banking, benefit administration, insurance, and wealth-management services both locally and on a nationwide basis.”

Those units now make up nearly four in 10 dollars of gross income the company produces.

“In aggregate, over 39 percent of our revenue is comprised of diversified fee-income business, well over twice that of industry peers,” Karaivanov said. “Bringing all of that under the new name, Community Financial System, underscores our mission and drives our inclusiveness as one company.”

Community’s stock ticker symbol (NYSE: CBU) remains the same, and its common stock will begin trading under the new company name on Friday, May 24.

Community Bank has more than $15 billion in assets and operates 200 branches in New York Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts.