All the places i have been all have a First National Bank,So can someone here tell me does that mean that the bank was the first in that region to get a charter from the Feds or What?[?] Like they cant all be First? Or can they?
Just like “First Baptist Church of XXX”. They’re FNBank of Kumquat, Iowa or whereever.
The US Congress passed the National Bank Act in the 1860s to create the unified banking system we know today. Banks using the phrase “National Bank” in their name had to meet certain requirements and be chartered under the act. There were still banks chartered under state laws and they had their own regulations .
Only one could be chartered using the name “First National Bank of Anytown” obviously though there could be any number of National Banks in town.
Wayne
The First National Bank of “A” was not the same as the First National Bank of “B” The name of the town in which the bank had its primary offices was often used, but it didn’t have to be a town. For instance the First National Bank of Commerce was a large miltibranch bank in Washington.
Until fairly recently banks (1970’s?) whether State chartered or nationally chartered, banks were only allowed to operate within one State.
Until the rule waschanged, Washington’s First National Bank of Commerce was the only multistate bank. It had a few branches in Idaho that had existed before the one State rule. (I don’t know when the rule was made). My dad started with them as an office boy, at an Idaho branch, during the 1930’s. He was chief bookeeper for the for the company when he left in the 1950’s.
Now of course many banks are multistate.
I don’t know how y’all keep track of all these banks…we have fewer than 10 nationwide…[:)]
I was always most interested in some of the odd ones. For example there is a “Fifth Third Bank” in the Chicago area I understand. I always wondered how that came to be. Perhaps a takeover of the Third Bank by the Fifth Bank???
LC
Maybe it was originally at the corner of fifth and third.[:D]
Fifth Third was a Cinci based bank or actualy a S&L that Startted at 5th and 3rd in Cinci OH
Who wants to be second in anything? They might as well call themselves the OTHER national bank if they can’t be first.
tf22: Fifth Third was a merger of two banks in Cincy in 1908 after a bank panic and Fifth National wore the pants in that family…if you wander around downtown and look up around 4th & Walnut, you’ll see there was also a Sixth National Bank in Cincy.
Or are you ever allowed to wander south out of Warren County?
Wasn’t the Second National Bank of Gotham City frequently robbed on the old Batman TV Series??
LC
I think if I was to start a bank I would name it the 69th National Bank, just to avoid any confusion…LOL…
LC
Way to go brudda LC, take the moral low ground! How about Last National Bank![:O][:O][:O]
MC
Never seen a First National in this part of Canada – maybe thats the answer – just come here!!!
and he notes -
Banks with “National” in their name weren’t always "First " or “Second’” as the case may be in Podunkville. We had an Indian Head National Bank in my home town as well as a Second National. There was also a First Federal Credit Union and a local Trust Company. I think the name had a lot to do with image as well as regulations
There was a First National supermarket though. Maybe the bank had to take second place… [
I think many new banks tried to get the word National in thair name to as prestige to thair name. I think many just picked the name before there was much regulations on names.
I have seen many First National of and The National Bank of this or that city.
This remindes me of the early days of railroading, when many RRs added the word Pacific to thair name. They might only run from Podunk to North Stump but would still br chartered as the Podunk North Stump and Pacific.
As for the Fifth/Third, I have always said that the Third Bank collapsed 4 times in some sort of financial panic and this was just the latest incarnation. Give them credit for perseverance.
Disclaimer: This is a forum and gospel truth is not mandatory. It is recommended that you DO NOT run to the Fifth/Third and close your accounts.
WAIT a minute! If the Fifth National Bank collapsed 4 times…
5-4=1 So isn’t it back to the 1st National bank again??
This is making my head hurt. I gotta check my direct deposit again…
LC
I wonder if they will eventually have a 33rd National Bank. What happens if there are banks that registered abit late; do they become 2nd and a quarter National Bank?
BankOne (recently merged out of existence) used to be the First National Bank of Chicago.
In over thirty years locally, we’ve been through four bank names without moving any accounts–and that’s on each of two banks, the one we have for our checking account and the one we have for our mortgage. My dear wife still can’t get the name of one of them right: she often says “Third Fifth”, which suggests some highly inebriated tellers!