First Hawaiian Bank history

1878 – Bishop & Co. outgrew its little basement room and moved to the first home it could call its own, a two-story bank at the corner of Merchant and Kaahumanu Streets.

1895 – Samuel M. Damon bought Bishop & Co. from founder Charles Bishop.

1910 – Bank opened first branch in Hilo.

1911 – Bank opened first branch on Kauai, at Waimea.

1914 – Samuel Damon retired.

January 2, 1919 – Bank, formerly a partnership, incorporated as Bank of Bishop & Co., Ltd.

February 20, 1920 – Acquired Bank of Honolulu ($1.3 million deposits). Total bank assets, $17.1 million.

1923 – Bank opened branch in Kona.

July 1924 – Samuel Damon died.

November 9, 1925 – New 75,000-square-foot headquarters opened on the prime downtown corner of King and Bishop Streets.

1926 – Mele Williams L'Orange became first female officer (assistant cashier).

January 30, 1929 – Merger announced between Bank of Bishop and First National Bank of Hawaii, First American Savings Bank, Army National Bank of Schofield Barracks, Baldwin Bank (Maui). Name changed to Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu.

1933 – Name changed to Bishop National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu.

Tourism was off too; Hawaii's visitor count plummeted about 6 percent in both 1992 and 1993, largely as a result of fewer mainland travelers. It was the largest decline since 1949.

1956 – Name changed to Bishop National Bank of Hawaii.

1958 – As part of its 100th anniversary celebration, bank donated $50,000 to Bishop Museum for planetarium construction.

Notable was the entrance in 1960 of heavy-hitter Hawaii National Bank.

1962 —Hawaii's first "skyscraper" built on the same block as Damon building.

1963 —First computer installed.

1966 —Bank acquired Cooke Trust Company, Ltd.

Yao grew up in China, moved to Taiwan, and then relocated to Hawaii in 1968 where she went to work as a teller at Pioneer.

Finally, in 1969, it was titled First Hawaiian Bank.

March 1971 —Introduced photo credit card.

1972 —First ATMs installed.

1974 —First Hawaiian, Inc. formed as holding company for First Hawaiian Bank with John Bellinger as president and chief executive officer.

In 1975, for example, First Hawaiian purchased a financial services company to broaden its strength in both consumer and commercial credit markets, renaming the subsidiary First Hawaiian Creditcorp, Inc.

1976 — Deposits exceed $1 billion.

1977 — Formed First Hawaiian Leasing, Inc.

1982 — Deposits exceed $2 billion.

In 1984, Pioneer's board of directors selected her to head the company.

Coincidentally, Bellinger died in 1989 after 30 years of service, leaving First National in the hands of younger managers.

Much of First Hawaiian's gains were the result of its 1991 acquisition of First Interstate of Hawaii, Inc., a commercial bank holding company with $900 million in assets.

In April of 1992, Business Week ranked First Hawaiian Bank the tenth safest lender in the nation.

Tourism, foreign investment, and agricultural markets continued to slide in 1993, resulting in lackluster lending opportunities.

With assets of $7.3 billion in 1994, First Hawaiian, Inc., is the second largest bank holding company in Hawaii.

1995 — First Hawaiian Dealer Center opened in Irvine, Calif., handling automobile loans, the bank’s first Mainland expansion.

May 15, 1996 — First Hawaiian acquired 31 branches in Oregon, Washington and Idaho from United States Bancorp.

April 18, 1997 — Pioneer Federal was merged into First Hawaiian Bank.

June 9, 1998 — First Hawaiian Creditcorp was merged into First Hawaiian Bank.

July 1, 1999 — BancWest completed $180-million acquisition of SierraWest Bancorp, parent of SierraWest Bank.

May 7, 2001 – Board of BancWest entered into a merger agreement to accept BNP Paribas' offer to acquire the 55% of BancWest stock it did not already own for $35 in cash per share.

March 15, 2002 – BancWest expanded into Southern California with the acquisition of United California Bank from UFJ Bank Ltd. of Japan.

2003 – First Hawaiian Bank becomes Hawaii's largest bank in terms of assets

2004 – Walter A. Dods retires as CEO. Donald G. Horner appointed CEO.

2008 – First Hawaiian Bank celebrates its 150th anniversary.

2010 – First Hawaiian Bank introduces POPmoney becoming one of the first banks in the nation allowing customers to send money electronically via email or mobile phone.

December 31, 2011 – Chairman Donald G. Horner retires as CEO.

February 12, 2019 – First Hawaiian, Inc. becomes a fully independent company once again as BNP Paribas exits its ownership position.

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