Bank of Astoria in Oregon to Take Columbia Bank Brand

Bank of Astoria in Oregon plans to convert all of its branches to the Columbia Bank brand, nine years after the two lenders merged.

The six Bank of Astoria-branded branches will be converted to Columbia Bank branches in the next several months, according to a message from President Heather Seppa posted on Bank of Astoria's website. The change was first reported in the Portland Business Journal.

The change is intended to take advantage of Columbia Bank's increased presence in western and coastal Oregon following its planned acquisition of West Coast Bank. In September, the Tacoma, Wash.-based Columbia Banking Systems (COLB), Columbia Bank's parent, agreed to pay $506 million to acquire the $2.6 billion-asset West Coast Bancorp (WCBO) in Lake Oswego, the parent of West Coast Bank.

West Coast Bank has 48 branches in Oregon and 12 in Washington, which will give the $4.9 billion-asset Columbia Bank 165 total branches once the merger becomes final.

"This is really just a matter of changing the signs," and the bank's services are not expected to change, Seppa's message said. Columbia bought Bank of Astoria in 2004.