We are a Delaware corporation which recently changed names -- it was in conjunction with Series A funding, but was not related to a merger or acquisition in any way. Our bank is telling us we need a second checking account in order to be able to continue to deposit checks made out to both OldName and NewName. They say the only way to have both names on one account is to register the old name as a DBA name (in California, this would be a fictitious name statement, I believe). We have provided the Delaware Restated Certificate of Incorporation as proof of the name change already. They are pointing to the Patriot Act as the reason.
My concern with the DBA-fictitious name is just that I don't know what else that might trigger -- I don't want to give OldName a longer life than it naturally has. But I can't count on customers switching to NewName as quickly as we'd like (we have annual renewals, so OldName could pop up months from now).
Has anyone else dealt with this -- or know much about it, especially from the bankers' side? If I simply try to deposit an OldName check months from now, will they eventually just take it (even if I have to try a couple of times)? Or is doing a DBA no big deal and won't keep OldName going?
Thanks in advance....
