U.S. Bancorp - History

History

Today’s U.S. Bank was forged during the 1990s from the acquisitions of several major regional banks in the West and Midwest. Those banks, in turn, had grown from the mergers of numerous smaller banks throughout the years. Since 1988 alone, mergers with and acquisitions of more than 50 banks, large and small, have helped form today’s U.S. Bank. The U.S. Bank name first appeared in the form of United States National Bank of Portland, established in Portland, Oregon in 1891; it changed its name to the United States National Bank of Oregon in 1964. In 1997, that corporation merged with First Bank System, Inc., which had its headquarters in Minneapolis. First Bank System was formed in 1929 as the First Bank Stock Corporation by several banks in the Upper Midwest, most notably the First National Bank of Minneapolis and the First National Bank of St. Paul, both of which had been established in 1864. It became First Bank System in 1968. While First Bank was the nominal survivor and headquarters remained in Minneapolis, the merged bank took the U.S. Bancorp name. In St. Louis, State Savings Institution, with just $8,500 in capital and one teller, opened in St. Louis in 1850, later to become part of the Mercantile Trust Company, the forerunner of Mercantile Bancorporation.

In the eastern part of the franchise, when Farmers and Millers Bank in Milwaukee opened its doors in 1853, growing into the First National Bank of Milwaukee and eventually becoming First Wisconsin and ultimately Firstar. In Cincinnati, First National Bank of Cincinnati opened for business in 1863 under National Charter #24 with the boom of Civil War cannons firing just across the Ohio, but it survived through many more decades to grow into Star Bank.

From their largely unremarkable beginnings, these banks thrived as independent entities, each growing into a respected force (and usually the largest commercial bank) in their respective marketplaces. As opportunities arose, each participated in in-market mergers and acquisitions during the early decades of the 20th century and in more widespread expansions during the 1980s and 1990s — including the 1993 transaction that brought Colorado National Bank in Denver into the First Bank System, and West One Bancorp of Boise, Idaho, coming into the original U.S. Bancorp in 1995.

Of particular note, in 1902 the U.S. National Bank of Portland was merged into the Ainsworth National Bank of Portland, but kept the U.S. National Bank name. The decision turned out to be an auspicious one, as a 1913 federal law prohibited other banks from using “United States” in their names from that time forward. U.S. National was among the first banks to form a bank holding company — called U.S. Bancorp.

In 1999, Firstar merged with Star Bank, and acquired Mercantile five months later. The present-day company was formed when Firstar bought U.S. Bancorp, a deal which closed on February 27, 2001. While Firstar was the surviving company, it changed its name to U.S. Bancorp and moved its headquarters to Minneapolis.

On November 14, 2008, U.S. Bancorp received $6,599,000,000 from the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in the form of a preferred stock and related warrants. On November 21, 2008 U.S. Bank purchased Downey Savings & Loan Assn FA from Downey Financial Corp and Pomona First Fed Bk & Tr(PFF) from PFF Bancorp Inc,CA. At year-end 2008, U.S. Bancorp had total assets of $266 billion, and U.S. Bank was the 6th-largest commercial bank within the United States. On June 17, 2009, U.S. Bancorp redeemed the $6.6 billion of preferred stock and on July 15, 2009, it completed the purchase of a warrant held by the U.S. Treasury Department. This effectively concluded U.S. Bancorp’s participation in the Capital Purchase Program. It was among the first banks to repay the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.

During October 2009 US Bancorp announced four separate acquisitions:

• On October 5, 2009 US Bancorp announced its acquisition of the mutual fund administration and accounting servicing division of Fiduciary Management, Inc.
• On October 7, 2009 U.S. Bank, agreed to buy the bond trustee business of First Citizens Bank, a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares Inc.
• On October 14, 2009 U.S. Bank agreed to acquire the Nevada banking operations of BB&T Corp.
• On October 20, 2009 US Bancorp completed a transaction to purchase FBOP Corporation’s nine subsidiary banks from the FDIC: BankUSA, National Association (AZ), California National Bank (CA), Citizens National Bank (TX), Community Bank of Lemont (IL), Madisonville State Bank (TX), North Houston Bank (TX), Pacific National Bank (CA), Park National Bank (IL), and San Diego National Bank (CA). (US Bancorp subsequently sold the three banks in Texas in 2010 to Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares.)

On January 28, 2011, US Bancorp acquired the assets and deposits of First Community Bank of New Mexico. That is the first entry into New Mexico, its 25th state.

On January 27, 2012, US Bancorp acquired the assets and deposits of failed Knoxville, Tennessee-based BankEast, which was closed by state regulators. The bank's ten branches were rebranded as US Bank branches the following Monday.