Nov. 3--For the past few days, Dan DeLawder has been very careful -- and specific -- when he tells people the name of the bank he leads.

"That's Park National Bank, the one in Newark, Ohio, not the one in Chicago, Ill.," the CEO now says.

And for good reason.

The Park National Bank in Chicago was shut down Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., along with eight other banks owned by FBOP Corp. of Oak Park, Ill.

All assets and deposits were taken over by U.S. Bancorp.

The Newark-based bank has no connection to the Chicago bank, other than the name.

"We've had a few inquiries from people, a handful," DeLawder said.

Hoping to avoid confusion, the Newark-based bank has tried to anticipate questions and concerns. It put information on its Web site and issued a news release, reminding depositors and the media that the bank is profitable and well-capitalized. It's the Park National in Chicago that closed.

Confusion over names is nothing new in the world of banking, which is filled with Nationals, Firsts and Citizens. That has been exacerbated this year with the closing of 115 banks.

For example, Citizens National Bank in Teague, Texas, was one of nine banks that were closed Friday by the FDIC. There are 37 Citizens National banks in the country.

Park isn't the only area financial institution to have dealt with the name game.

"There are seven Heartland Banks in the continental United States," said Scott McComb, CEO of the one based in central Ohio.

None of the seven has failed, but there was a Heartland problem in February when Heartland Payments Systems announced a security breach that compromised millions of credit cards.

This led to some concerned queries to the central Ohio bank.

"In the headlines, they only say 'Heartland,' and around here, that means us," McComb said. "We did get a few calls, but our reputation is good and there wasn't a lot of fallout."

DeLawder is confident there will be no fallout for his bank, either.

"We publicize our performance and make it very clear to the public how we're doing," he said.

Park National, which is part of Park National Corp., recently reported a third-quarter profit of $19 million.

swartenberg@dispatch.com

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