BOK Financial history

In 1917, Exchange National Bank began construction of a headquarters building in Tulsa at Third Street and Boston Avenue.

In 1933, it was reorganized as the National Bank of Tulsa (NBT).

In 1945, the bank was one of the largest sellers of War bonds.

The combined structure, since renamed the 320 South Boston Building, remained the tallest building in Tulsa until 1967.

Also in 1975, the bank installed the first automated teller machine in Oklahoma.

In 1979, the bank reached $1 billion in assets.

In 1984, the bank merged with Fidelity of Oklahoma and reached $3 billion in assets.

In 1986, the bank received $130 million from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and reported a net loss of $139 million.

BOK Financial was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Tulsa, OK.“

On June 7, 1991, when the bank had just under $2 billion in assets, it was acquired by George Kaiser for $61 million in a sale facilitated by the FDIC. Under Kaiser's ownership, BOK began an aggressive expansion effort with the strategy to locate in growing markets near Oklahoma.

In 1994, BOK Financial acquired an Oklahoma-based bank holding company with operations in Northwest Arkansas, which would become Bank of Arkansas.

In 1997, BOK Financial’s regional expansion initiative officially began with acquisitions of Park Cities Bancshares and First Texcorp in Dallas, forming Bank of Texas.

In 1998, the bank formed the Bank of Albuquerque with the acquisition of 17 branches in New Mexico.

In 2003, the bank formed Colorado State Bank and Trust and entered the Denver market.

In 2005, the bank formed Bank of Arizona and entered the Phoenix market.

In November 2008, the bank declined to receive a capital investment from the United States Department of the Treasury as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, making it the largest bank in the United States to do so.

In March 2014, the company announced the acquisition of MBM Advisors, Inc. of Houston, Texas.

In November 2016, the company acquired MBT Bancshares, the parent company of Missouri Bank and Trust of Kansas City, informally known as "mobank."

In October 2018, the company acquired CoBiz Financial and rebranded their Colorado and Arizona operations "BOK Financial."