Jyske Bank changes its name on Facebook

"Ten years ago, we experienced lively dialogue and debate. But Facebook has changed fundamentally, which is why it makes it more sense to use the Jyske Bank name rather than the Catfish (Havkatten)."

This is the explanation given by Lasse Høgfeldt, Head of Communications at Jyske Bank, to why the bank no longer goes by the name of this bizarre fish. However, the fish will remain linked to Jyske Bank's identity, and this is unlikely to change.

Fish statuette

The bank’s website therefore still tells the story of how the nickname was coined by an article in 1982 in Jyllands-Posten, which referred to Jyske Bank as 'the Catfish in the livewell' – an old saying that has fallen out of use, which means having untraditional manners and abilities to stir things up.

Internally, the bank still mentions this fish a lot, and an annual Catfish Award of DKK 100,000 and accompanying Catfish Statuette were established in 2022 – the first year won by the Danish Refugee Council and last year by entrepreneur René Birch. 

Best for internal use

This anything but beautiful fish has thus been woven into the bank’s identity, but is far from easy to decipher in external communication – it requires explanation.

"The Catfish clearly works best internally," says Lasse Høgfeldt.
And with Facebook changing, requiring us to tie up money to reach our users, the Catfish can no longer swim the tides in these waters.

"Years ago, a vibrant community revolved around our catfish on Facebook. This has virtually disappeared, you need to pay to reach people, and we get more reach with the Jyske Bank name alone. So that's what we've chosen to do."