Tightwad Bank makes a comeback

Tom Barlow
Updated

The tiny town of Tightwad, Missouri has little to offer beyond an excellent, excellent name. In a 1984 stroke of genius, Citizens Bank of Windsor played upon the name by building a branch there and naming it the Tightwad Bank. On the name alone, the bank thrived for a while from the business of people across the country who wanted that name to appear on their checks and accounts.

Tightwad Bank in Tightwad, Missouri
Tightwad Bank in Tightwad, Missouri


However, as the joke wore thin, so did the bank's finances. UMB Financial, who had purchased the Tightwad during its halcyon days, shut it down in 2006. However, nearby Reading State Bank, seeing an opportunity, gained approval to rename itself Tightwad Bank, with the slogan "The Bank With a Sense of Humor." (I'm not sure a sense of humor is a selling point in a bank to me. I'd rather my banker be staid and to the point.) Now, the branch in Tightwad is once again open, ready to take your money and treat it with all the parsimony you could desire.

I'm thinking of moving some money there, from my accounts at the

  • We'd Give a Loan To a Pig Savings and Loan

  • The Drunken Sailor Bank and Keno Parlor

  • The Pay Me Back When You Got It Credit Union

  • Rodney Dangerfield's Topless Bank

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