Great American Bank

Last updated
Great American Bank, FSB
Formerly
  • San Diego Building and Loan Association (1885–1936)
  • San Diego Federal Savings and Loan Association (1936–1982)
  • Great American Federal Savings and Loan Association (1982–1984)
  • Great American First Savings Bank (1984–1987)
Company typePublic
Industry Thrift
FoundedJuly 11, 1885;138 years ago (1885-07-11) in San Diego as San Diego Building and Loan Association
Founders Moses Luce, George Hensley
DefunctAugust 10, 1991;32 years ago (1991-08-10)
FateSeized by regulators when company became insolvent
Successors
Headquarters
San Diego, California
,
US
Number of locations
213 (at height in 1990)
Areas served
California, Arizona, Washington, Montana, Colorado
ProductsSavings accounts, home mortgages

Great American Bank was an American savings and loan association based in San Diego. [1] It was founded in 1885 as San Diego Building and Loan Association, the first savings and loan in Southern California. [2] Until the 1980s, it operated as San Diego Federal Savings and Loan Association. Federal regulators seized and disbanded the bank in 1991. Before the company was split apart, Great American had more than 200 offices operating in California, Arizona, Washington, Montana, and Colorado. [3]

Contents

History

San Diego Building and Loan Association was founded on July 11, 1885. [4] Its initial capital stock was $500,000 from 2,500 shares at $200 each. The company changed from a state charter to a federal charter in 1936, when it became San Diego Federal Savings and Loan Association. [2] It began a stretch of eight mergers with other S&Ls starting in December 1980, [5] [6] during which it changed its name to Great American Federal Savings and Loan Association in 1982. [7] The name change reflected their business going from four offices in San Diego County in 1970 to over 100 statewide after the completed mergers. [5] [7] It changed back from a federal to a state charter in 1984, when it changed its name to Great American First Savings Bank. [8]

During the 1970s and 1980s, Great American experienced rapid growth largely due to acquisitions, and some considered it "the place to work" in San Diego. [9] The bank also supported numerous civic causes.[ citation needed ]

Great American was positioned for growth after its public stock offering in 1983 and $60 million debt offering the year after. [10] It expanded for the first time outside the state of California by the acquisition of Home Federal Savings of Tucson, Arizona, at the peak of a speculative real estate boom in the state in 1986. [11] In March 1987, the company expanded into the state of Colorado through the acquisition of the insolvent two-office First Security Savings & Loan Association of Grand Junction, Colorado. [12] In October 1987, Great American expanded into the Pacific Northwest through the acquisition of Capital Savings Bank of Olympia, Washington. At the time of the acquisition, Capital had 35 offices in Washington state and 5 offices in Montana. [13] [14]

After purchasing the naming rights from Great American Bancorp of Century City for $2.1 million, it changed its name to Great American Bank in 1987. [15] In August 1988, Great American got out of the credit card business by selling its credit card division with its 188,000 Visa, Visa Gold, Mastercard and Gold Mastercard accounts to Household Bank N.A. of Salinas, a subsidiary of Household International, for an undisclosed amount. [16]

By 1990, Great American had a large portfolio of bad loans and fell below its regulatory capital requirements. The bank sold its core of 130 California branches in a two-phase sale to Wells Fargo for $491 million before federal regulators seized the bank with its remaining 81 branches in August 1991. [1] [11] [17] In May 1994, the Resolution Trust Corporation sold 58 Arizona branches to Banc One, 15 in Washington to First Interstate Bancorp, five in Washington to Sterling Financial Corporation, and two in Arizona to Washington Federal Savings while closing the remaining offices in its care. [17] [18]

Great American's decision to stray away from home loans into commercial real estate and out-of-state investments (most notably in Arizona) has been cited as a reason for its decline over time. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

Washington Mutual, Inc. was an American savings bank holding company based in Seattle. It was the parent company of WaMu Bank, which was the largest savings and loan association in the United States until its collapse in 2008.

Washington Federal Bank is an American bank based in Seattle, Washington. It operates over 200 branches throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank One Corporation</span> Former bank of the United States

Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, 2004, with its CEO Jamie Dimon taking the lead at the combined company. The company had its headquarters in the Bank One Plaza in the Chicago Loop in Chicago, Illinois, now the headquarters of Chase's retail banking division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Bancorp</span> American bank holding company

U.S. Bancorp is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution in the United States. The company provides banking, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and other financial institutions. As of 2019, it had 3,106 branches and 4,842 automated teller machines, primarily in the Western and Midwestern United States. In 2023 it ranked 149th on the Fortune 500, and it is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board. The company also owns Elavon, a processor of credit card transactions for merchants, and Elan Financial Services, a credit card issuer that issues credit card products on behalf of small credit unions and banks across the U.S.

Bank of the West was an American financial institution headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It had more than 600 branches and offices in the Midwest and Western United States.

Great Western Bank was a large retail bank that operated primarily in the Western United States. Great Western's headquarters were in Chatsworth, California. At one time, Great Western was one of the largest savings and loan in the United States, second only to Home Savings of America. The bank was acquired by Washington Mutual in 1997 for $6.8 billion.

H.F. Ahmanson & Co. was a California holding company named after Howard F. Ahmanson Sr. It was best known as the parent of Home Savings of America, once one of the largest savings and loan associations in the United States.

California Federal Bank, known as CalFed, was a retail bank and real estate lender headquartered in Los Angeles, California that operated under a federal savings bank charter. In 2002, it operated 352 branches, most of which were in California, when acquired by Citigroup.

Western Savings and Loan was an American financial institution founded by the Driggs family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Savings and Loan Association</span>

The Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California, was the financial institution at the heart of the Keating Five scandal during the 1980s savings and loan crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Stone Bank</span>

Old Stone Bank was a popular Rhode Island banking institution that was founded in Providence in 1819 as a mutual savings bank that was called Providence Institution for Savings.

Bank United Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, was a broad-based financial services provider and the largest publicly traded depository institution headquartered in Texas before its merger with Washington Mutual in 2001. Bank United Corp. conducted its business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bank United, a federally chartered savings bank. The company operated a 155-branch community banking network in Texas, including 77 in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, 66 in the greater Houston area, five in Midland, four in Austin, and three in San Antonio; operated 19 SBA lending offices in 14 states; was a national middle market commercial bank with 23 regional offices in 16 states; originated mortgage loans through 11 wholesale offices in 10 states; operated a national mortgage servicing business serving approximately 324,000 customers, and managed an investment portfolio. As of June 30, 2000, Bank United Corp. had assets of $18.2 billion, deposits of $8.8 billion, and stockholder's equity of $823 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PacWest Bancorp</span> American bank holding company

PacWest Bancorp is an American bank holding company based in Beverly Hills, California, with one wholly owned banking subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank. It is a subsidiary of Banc of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valley National Bank of Arizona</span> Former bank, based in Phoenix, Arizona

Valley National Bank of Arizona was a bank based in Phoenix, Arizona, founded in 1900 and acquired by Bank One in 1992. The bank was one of Arizona's leading financial institutions during the 20th century and the last major independent bank in Arizona at the time of its acquisition.

Banc of California, Inc. is an American bank serving the state of California with over 30 branches in Southern California, extending from San Diego to Santa Barbara. The bank is headquartered in Santa Ana, California, with over 600 employees and 36 offices.

CenTrust Bank, A State Savings Bank was an American savings and loan association based in Miami, Florida that failed in 1990. Its failure in 1990 was one of the largest and costliest failures of the savings and loan crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star Banc Corporation</span>

Star Banc Corporation was a Cincinnati, Ohio-based regional bank holding company that acquired Firstar in 1998 and took the Firstar name; the merged bank acquired U.S. Bancorp in 2001 and took the U.S. Bancorp name. The company can trace its origins back to 1863 when it was first founded as the First National Bank of Cincinnati.

American Savings and Loan Association was an American savings and loan based in Stockton, California. In 1988 it was the largest thrift failure and the federal government's costliest resolution during the savings and loan crisis at an estimated cost of $5.4 billion.

Glendale Federal Savings and Loan Association, later Glendale Federal Bank, was one of the nation's largest federally chartered savings and loan association during the 1980s. It was long based in Los Angeles suburb Glendale, California, at 401 Brand Boulevard. The Glendale Federal brand was retired in 1998 when Glendale Federal was merged into California Federal Bank via a reverse merger engineered by Ronald Perelman and Gerald J. Ford, the owners of California Federal via their privately-owned First Nationwide Holding Inc.

HomeFed Bank was an American savings and loan association based in San Diego. It was founded by Charles K. Fletcher as Home Federal Savings and Loan Association in 1934 with $7,500, including $2,000 of his own and $7,500 from friends. At the time, new federal legislation in the Home Owners' Loan Corporation Act had created a new industry for mortgage finance. Home Federal's assets grew to $4 million within eight years. In 1983, it became a public company. It changed its name from Home Federal Savings and Loan to HomeFed Bank in 1989. That year, HomeFed achieved a company record $115.7 million in earnings.

References

  1. 1 2 Kraul, Chris (August 10, 1991). "Regulators Seize Ex-Powerhouse Great American". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Great American bank 105 years old". Chula Vista Star-News. June 28, 1987. p. B-10. Retrieved December 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Salerno, Steve (December 8, 1991). "Bad Loans, Bad Blood : The Deadly Rivalry Between San Diego's HomeFed and Great American Savings Wasn't Just Business. For Their CEOs, It Was Personal". Los Angeles Times .
  4. ↑ Sullivan, William (Winter 1985). "100 Years Ago in San Diego". The Journal of San Diego History. Vol. 31, no. 1. San Diego History Center. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Ramirez, Anthony (February 25, 1982). "San Diego S&L to Take Over San Joaquin 1st". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 2. Retrieved December 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Wilson Engstrand, Iris (2005). San Diego: California's Cornerstone. Sunbelt Publications. p. 207. ISBN   9780932653727 – via Google Books.
  7. 1 2 "San Diego S&L now Great American". The Desert Sun. January 5, 1982. p. B-5. Retrieved December 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Business Briefs". Chula Vista Star-News. July 5, 1984. p. B-5. Retrieved December 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Monteagudo, Merrie (2021-08-10). "Great American Bank seized in 1991". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  10. ↑ Burkhardt, Susan (July 7, 1985). "Great American to begin second century Thursday". The San Diego Union. p. I-1. A stock offering in 1983 and a $60 million debt offering last fall gave Great American extra net worth and 'more room to grow,' Schmidt said.
  11. 1 2 "Regulators seize Great American Bank". UPI. August 9, 1991. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  12. ↑ Johnson, Greg (March 11, 1987). "Great American Completes Deal to Buy Colorado S&L". Los Angeles Times .
  13. ↑ Johnson, Greg (January 30, 1987). "Great American Planning Expansion Into Northwest". Los Angeles Times .
  14. ↑ "Great American First Savings Bank has completed..." Los Angeles Times . October 9, 1987.
  15. ↑ "Great Americans Agree". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1987. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  16. ↑ Kraul, Chris (August 24, 1988). "Great American Finds Buyer for Credit Cards". Los Angeles Times .
  17. 1 2 "Banc One, 1st Interstate buy Great American branches" . American Banker. May 17, 1994. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  18. ↑ Deters, Barbara (May 14, 1994). "Banc One wins Great American bid". The Arizona Republic. p. E-1. Retrieved December 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Monteagudo, Merrie (2021-08-10). "Great American Bank seized in 1991". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.