Teachers Mutual Bank. Bank First. Bank Australia. Rivalry among these three lesser-known pillars of banking is producing chipper growth and new thinking in the sector.Bank First is a forthcoming name among this trio. IP Australia listings show Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank, one of the survivors of the Melbourne mutual ADI sector, is looking to set itself on a new brand course. William Wolke, the bank's chief executive, declined to answer questions about the strategic significance of the registration of a new trade mark for VTMB."It's part of a proposition we're developing for the market," he said. "I'm not able to discuss this further at this stage."Bank Australia, the cross town rival with shared heritage among schools' staff, has operated without "education" in its branding since snaring the name Bank Australia in 2015. Any change on the branding front for VTMB will leave the "Teachers Bank" naming space to the former NSW Teachers Credit Union. Between them, these three ADIs account for A$10.5 billion in the mortgage market, double MyState (at least) and around half the bulk of ME.The bank brand trend for more mutual ADIs, encouraged now by APRA, has drawn in NSW-based Gateway Credit Union.Gateway Bank will be the new name for a credit union that allowed the warm experience of early movers away from credit union status to prove the case in favour of a bank name.In a letter sent to members last month, Gateway chair Catherine Hallinan urged members to support the name change, assuring it would not affect the mutual status of the organisation."We strongly believe that changing our name will provide us with new opportunities to improve our competitive position and support our long-term growth and development," she told members in the letter.Under recent government reforms any organisation licensed by APRA to take deposits will be allowed to describe itself as a bank.At the other end of the scale, the Ford Cooperative Credit Society (based in Geelong) recently lodged an application with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for the right to use "First Mutual Bank" as a business name.General manager Peter Vecoli said that the credit union had not made a decision on whether to change the trading name of the business."We're investigating options for a possible change of name in the future pending the outcome of proposed changes in the legislation," he said.