Interesting question. I think they came up with the word "branches" to refer to their locations just to slap in our faces that money doesn't grow on trees, but they have the money but we just can't touch it. LOL.. . But then again, we use "tree" to refer to a lot of things - mainly referring to a main source. Like family tree, with branches to include relatives and such. Or a parent company is a tree, with branches as regions and departments. Kinda like Umbrella. So on and so forth.