First National Bank of Chicago

First Chicago Corporation

Trading name	First Chicago Bank
Former type	Bank Holding Company
Traded as	: FNB
Industry	Financial Services
Fate	Merged with Banc One Corporation
Predecessor	First National Bank of Chicago
Successor	First Chicago NBD (1995–1998) Bank One (1998–2004) Chase (2004–)
Founded	1863; 154 years ago (1863) as bank 1969; 48 years ago (1969) as holding company
Founder	Edmund Aiken
Defunct	1995; 22 years ago (1995) as holding company 1998; 19 years ago (1998) as banking brand
Key people	Barry Sullivan (CEO)
Products	Financial Services
Brands	First Card
Subsidiaries	FCC National Bank (Delaware)

First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots back to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD (following its 1995 merger with the former National Bank of Detroit). In 1998, First Chicago NBD merged with Banc One Corporation to form Bank One Corporation, today a part of Chase.

On July 1, 1863, banker Edmund Aiken and his partners invested $100,000 to found a new federally chartered bank that could take advantage of the National Banking Act of 1863, which allowed national banks to exist along with state-chartered institutions for the first time. First Chicago received National Bank charter No. 8. The new bank known as The First National Bank of Chicago, or The First, grew steadily in the 1860s, financing the American Civil War.

The First merged with Union National Bank in 1900 and with the Metropolitan National Bank in 1902. At the beginning of the twentieth century, noted investors in the bank include J. Pierpont Morgan, James Stillman, Jacob H. Schiff, E. H. Harriman, and Marshall Field. In 1913, The First became a charter member of the Federal Reserve system. The First survived the depression, even acquiring Foreman State Banks in 1931 and was able to open its doors without regulatory delays following the National Bank Holiday of 1933.

In 1903, the First opened the First Trust and Savings Bank which provided savings accounts to individual customers. First Trust and Savings Bank merged with Union Trust Company in 1928 to become the First Union Trust and Savings Bank. During the Great Depression, the First would absorb First Union Trust and Savings Bank's customers and operations. The bank was active in the sale of War Bonds during World War II. During the 1950s and 1960s the First expanded both in the Midwestern US as well as abroad, opening offices in London (1959), Tokyo (1962) and later Beijing (1980).

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