First Interstate BancSystem
Encyclopedia
- For the Los Angeles-based bank that operated until 1996, see First Interstate BancorpFirst Interstate BancorpFirst Interstate Bancorp was a bank holding company based in the United States that was taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it was the nation's eighth largest banking company....
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First Interstate BancSystem, Inc., a financial holding company, and its primary banking subsidiary First Interstate Bank are based in Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The bank originated in 1968 as a single bank in Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...
, and incorporated in Montana in 1971. As of 2006, the bank had expanded to 49 branches with 130 ATMs in Montana and Wyoming.
In 1984, the company entered into a franchise agreement with First Interstate Bancorp
First Interstate Bancorp
First Interstate Bancorp was a bank holding company based in the United States that was taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it was the nation's eighth largest banking company....
, a multi-state bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, to use the First Interstate Bank name and logo. In 1996, when First Interstate Bancorp
First Interstate Bancorp
First Interstate Bancorp was a bank holding company based in the United States that was taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it was the nation's eighth largest banking company....
was split up, selling its Midwestern USA branches to St. Louis based Boatmen's Bancshares
Boatmen's Bancshares
Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. was one of the 30 largest bank holding companies in the United States when it was acquired by NationsBank in 1996.The company, founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1847, claimed to be the oldest bank west of the Mississippi River at the time of its acquisition.The bank was...
, which set the stage for it remaining west coast operations to be purchased by and merged into Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
. The Montana organization successfully negotiated to retain the well known First Interstate name and logo.
One of the banks that is now part of the system was the First National Bank of Casper which traces its roots to the C.H. King and Company Bankers founded in 1889 by Charles Henry King
Charles Henry King
Charles Henry King was an Omaha businessman and banker who was instrumental in founding several cities in the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. He saw opportunity with the expansion of the railroad west and built up related retail businesses, banks and freight operations. His fortune was estimated...
, grandfather of President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
.
Properties
First Interstate Bank is a fifty-percent owner and primary tenant of the First Interstate CenterFirst Interstate Center
First Interstate Center, is a signature commercial office building located in the Transwestern Plaza a complex consisting of four office towers with a total of 35 floors in the Downtown Core of Billings, Montana. This is the tallest building in the northern Rockies, and the tallest in the state of...
, a 20-story building in Billings, Montana. Completed in 1985 the 272 foot (83 m) structure is the tallest building in the state of Montana.