Firstbank Corp history

The population of Minneapolis grew steadily from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, reaching a peak of 521,718 in 1950.

The company's installment loan system was initially brought in during 1959 and was still in use.

FirstBank started from humble beginnings in 1963, and has since grown to be one of the largest privately held banks in the nation with over $27 billion in assets and over 100 locations throughout Colorado, Arizona, and California.

First Bank's customer information system dated back to 1964, without the benefit of any update since that time.

The Bank was first listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 1971 and won the NSE’s Annual President’s Merit Award for the best financial report in the banking industry a record thirteen times.

FirstBank was actually First Westland National Bank before being renamed FirstBank in 1978.

Confederation management recognized the need for more centralized control, and in 1982 began to prepare a comprehensive strategy for this purpose.

FirstBank has again earned a coveted Five-Star Superior Rating from BauerFinancial, the nation’s best bank rating service analyzing and reporting on the financial condition of the nation’s banking industry since 1983.

In 1984, Jim Ayers and his business partner saw that the power of community banking was growing.

In 1985, First Bank management made its first significant decision by selling 28 smaller, rural banks with little prospect for future growth.

Under the bank's own credit examination, its credit losses amounted to $424 million by 1986.

Another major decision involved the 1988 merger of the large Minneapolis and St Paul banks, and additional suburban banks in the Twin Cities area, into First Bank National Association.

24-hour telephone banking was introduced on April 3, 1989.

After a four month search, in January of 1990 the First Bank Board of Directors hired John F. (Jack) Grundhofer to act as chairman, president, and chief executive officer.

By 1992, a customer could walk into any of First Bank's affiliates in the Twin Cities area and get a cashier's check or automobile loan within 10 minutes.

First Bank purchased United States Bancorp's Oregon and Washington corporate trust operations in early 1993.

In May of 1994, the company confirmed its acquisition of Metropolitan Financial Corporation for approximately $800 million.

Under Grundhofer's leadership, by the beginning of 1995 First Bank had grown into one of the largest and most successful of the regional banks.

In 1999, he established The Ayers Foundation which is run by his wife, Janet Ayers.

FirstBank has donated more than $60 million to local nonprofits since 2000.

A 12-mile (19-km) light-rail transit line, connecting downtown Minneapolis with the airport and the Mall of America in suburban Bloomington, opened in 2004.

On 2006 it had over $18.8 billion in assets.

In 2007, FirstBank opened its first location in Arizona.

FirstBank debuted its signature orange cube logo in August 2008.

In December 2010, the inaugural Colorado Gives Day is declared with a goal of raising $1 million donations in 24 hours.

In October 2011, the Bank acquired a new subsidiary, Banque International de Credit (BIC), one of the leading banks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Also, in 2013, FirstBank was awarded the “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, “Best Bank in West Africa” in the African Banker Awards, and Best Foreign Exchange Services in Africa in the EMEA Finance Treasury Services Awards.

As of May, 2016, First owed $124.97 million to the US government Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In October 2019, FirstBank announced their intention to purchase Banco Santander de Puerto Rico.

Arizona Gives Day 2020 Raises Nearly $5M for Arizona Nonprofits : AZ Big Media - 04.08.20

A Record-Breaking $7.1M for Statewide Nonprofits on Arizona Gives Day 2021 : InBusiness Phoenix - 04.20.21