The .cba Dot Brand
The Commonwealth
Bank of Australia is Australia's largest retail bank and a major provider
of integrated financial products and services. It is listed in the top
ten largest banks in the world by market capitalisation.
The Commonwealth
Bank's mission for its .cba domain string is to promote trust and confidence
in its online operations. The CBA intends to strongly promote its authenticity
and brand identity. The .cba domains will be used to communicate the
bank's products, services and marketing. Innovation is also a key intention.
...consumer
trust, brand reputation and continuous innovation are paramount considerations
in all its activities. As well as strengthening CBA's position as
Australia's leading online bank, the .cba gTLD will enhance consumer
trust and confidence in CBA's online brands by providing a more secure
and authentic online banking environment.
The bank
plans to launch about 10 new domains in the first year, rising later
to around 50. (That would rise if country names are permitted left of
the dot — see below.)
As Australia's
largest retail bank, the Commonwealth Bank places a high priority on
the security of its applied for brand TLD. Privacy and confidentiality
are prime concerns. The bank anticipates that once the trust and security
of its new TLD are established, it will benefit consumers through convenient
and efficient access.
The branded
TLD is expected to provide a safer online experience and protect against
criminal activity. "It is estimated that time and money spent by
consumers who have been targeted by malicious abuse in utilising services
on the internet will reduce over time as a result of the new, trusted
.cba gTLD."
The closed,
brand domains will have a key advantage over open registries like .com.
Consumers will quickly become aware that all .cba domain names are owned
by the Commonwealth Bank, and by inference, safe and secure.
...the
development in this arena in the current domain name system has exposed
both businesses and consumers to increased criminal activities over
the internet, including data breach, hacking and phishing. These sophisticated
criminal activities cause reputational damage to businesses as internet
users lose consumer confidence and trust with the businesses targeted
by such criminal activities. .cba will facilitate greater trust and
assurance from internet users connecting with CBA online...
The bank
intends to use its new .cba TLD to simplify communications with visitors.
Navigation will be fast to this distinctive domain space. Domains will
be short, relevant and intuitive, such as Loans.cba. The bank is seeking
to build a coherent online brand identity that consumers can trust.
It is currently
difficult to acquire a good domain for a new offering, it is either
unavailable or highly expensive on the aftermarket. "CBA will be
able to combine its use of the domain space with innovative user focused
marketing and services to address the currently unmet needs in the existing
domain name system providing greater consumer choice."
The .cba
domain space will strengthen CBA's online brand reputation by enhancing
security and providing authentic and memorable domain names that are
relevant to customers. The ability to create domain names on demand
related to specific marketing campaigns, specialty service and product
development supports these goals.
At launch,
the bank expects that its new domains will simply re-direct to existing
website pages. Over time, this should change with communication and
encouragement. "The proposed new gTLD will be publicised by a media
plan at time of implementation to promote recognition of the new gTLD
within the internet community to be a trusted site and as a sign of
authenticity."
 Geographic
Dot Brands
The Commonwealth
Bank respects and abides by the GAC's principles regarding the reservation
of country domains such as Australia.cba. At the same time, the bank
believes that those principles are directed at the new open registries
for generic words, rather than at brand registries.
However,
CBA believes that the use of geographic terms can provide great benefit
and simplicity to internet users because these terms are intuitive
ways to resolve to CBA's content that is specifically relevant and
targeted to users in the particular geographic region and in line
with local customs, laws and regulations.
Hence,
the bank will be applying for permission to use various reserved geographic
names. (This does not appear to be against the public interest, rather,
it would be in the interest of customers in the relevant countries.)
"Generally, it is extremely unlikely that CBA’s tightly controlled
use of any cc.cba or countryname.cba domain name could be confusing
or detrimental to users, or otherwise offensive to any country."
NOTES:
cc = country code.
Please
refer to the .cba application for details.
Possible .cba Brand
Domains
Bank.cba
CommBank.cba
Invest.cba
CreditCard.cba
Loans.cba
FundsManagement.cba
Business.cba
Login.cba
Bondi.cba
Brisbane.cba
Shanghai.cba
Notes
Brand
names mentioned on this site are registered trademarks or trademarks
of their respective corporations. This site claims no association
with or endorsement by any of these corporations and their marks are
mentioned only to illustrate opinion presented in the public interest.
All quotations
on this page are from the respective companies' official ICANN brand
TLD applications unless otherwise stated.
Many possible
theoretical dot brands are mentioned (in English). There are also countless
possibilities in other languages. This has significant potential value
for international navigation.
This site
is focused on reporting the strategic impact of the brand domains on
internet communication, competition and commerce, and some comment is
speculative.
It is not
a comprehensive overview of what some of the world's largest corporations
have chosen to reveal about their plans for the implementation of their
proprietary domain strings.
ICANN is
particularly concerned with the technical, financial, security and legal
issues associated with the new TLDs. These issues are beyond the scope
of this website.
For a comprehensive
overview of the brand domains and their impact on the web, refer to
ICANN's website and the individual applications (large parts of which
are publicly published).
If you
have a particular interest in an individual company, the public aspects
of their applications are available for download via these ICANN links:
You can also search a complete list of applicants there.
ICANN
new gTLD applications
ICANN
official website
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