To transfer money from a Washington Mutual account opened in WA state into a Washington Mutual account opened in California, one needs to go through a layer of automated voice response system, get to the first human representative, then hear that “those are different companies”, be transferred to some higher-level support representative, and then get the transfer started. Net cost to Washington Mutual - roughly 5 minutes of phone support time with 2 different reps.
The main reason for the same bank being “two different companies” is the mega-merger mania, of which Washington Mutual has been a part of, buying smaller and equal-size banks left and right. As a result, there are several active account tracking systems, several customer support groups, several account numbering schemas, and very few people having complete overview of the big picture.
Another mega-company that’s fought its way to multi-billion dollar valuation through acquisitions is Comcast. I remember being told once that customer service reps in California and on the East Coast have access to two disparate customer support systems. They share information every once in a while, but if you call Comcast to place an order, successfully get it in the system, and then several hours later decide to call them back to make some modifications, a customer rep located in different area cannot see your order.
