City Bank of Commerce of Columbus
Commercial National and City Bank of Commerce of Columbus, Ohio merged to form City National Bank and Trust in 1929. John H. McCoy became president in 1935, starting a family dynasty. His son John G. McCoy took over for him in 1958. In the 1960’s, City National hired a comedienne, Phyllis Diller to do its radio and TV commercials. The commercials launched Diller’s career and made the bank famous. In 1966, City National offered the first Visa credit Card outside of California. It also created the first drive-up bank, and was one of the first banks to use ATM’s. Later, McCoy formed a holding company called First Bank Group of Ohio, which became Banc One in 1979. As soon as interstate barriers collapsed, the bank moved into India, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
John B. McCoy, third generation of the banking family, became CEO in 1984. During his reign, the bank acquired over 100 banks in the Midwest. The bank also bought over twenty failed banks and expanded into Texas in 1989. In 1991, the bank moved into Illinois. The bank entered a development alliance with Banco Nacional de Mexico in 1992. The number three bank in Louisiana, Premier Bancorp, was purchased in 1996. A year later, it added Liberty Bancorp, based in Oklahoma City. With the purchase of First USA in 1997, Banc One became the third largest credit card issuer behind Citicorp and MBNA. Read more…