Bank One Set to Celebrate 150 Years of Serving Customers in Louisville

Bank One Set to Celebrate 150 Years of Serving Customers in Louisville
Special Birthday Celebration at 10:30 a.m. March 9, Bank One Main Office 416 W.
Jefferson St.


LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 8  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bank One will celebrate 150
years of serving customers in Louisville on Tuesday, March 9, by serving Adam
Mathews Gorilla Forest cake and giving away commemorative keepsakes at its 42
Louisville-area locations.  A special Birthday Celebration will take place at
the Bank One Main Office,416 W. Jefferson St., at 10:30 a.m.  The media and
public are invited to attend.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030116/NYTH053LOGO )

Bank One traces its roots in Louisville to the German Insurance Bank, founded on
March 9, 1854.  That bank changed its name to Liberty Bank in 1918, and merged
with Bank One in 1994.  Bank One is the oldest financial institution founded in
Louisville.

"We are proud of Bank One's heritage in Louisville," said Todd Munson, President
of Bank One Kentucky."We want to share our pride with our customers and the
community."

Munson will host the Birthday Celebration at the Main Office.  A huge Adam
Matthews Gorilla Forest Cake will be served.  Historic photographs of the bank
and the city will be on display.  Special guests include retired bank chairmen
Frank Hower and Billy Joe Phelps.

A sweepstakes will be held March 6-20.  The grand prize is a 42" Sony Grand Wega
large screen TV.  Also awarded will be 150 $100 Best Buy gift certificates. 
Free scratch-off game tickets will be available at Bank One banking centers and
in a special newspaper insert.

Bank One contributes more than $1.5 million annually to Louisville-area
charitable organizations, and many of Bank One's nearly 2,000 local employees
are active volunteers, contributing thousands of hours of their time and
expertise to projects and organizations in the community.

Bank One Corporation ( http://www.bankone.com/ ) is the nation's sixth-largest
bank holding company, with assets of more than $325 billion.  Bank One currently
has more than 50 million credit cards issued, nearly 7 million retail
households, and approximately 20,000 middle market customers.  It also manages
more than $185 billion of clients' investment assets.

List of Bank One Louisville historical "Firsts and Facts" on the following
pages.

  Historic photographs available for publication upon request.

   Bank One Louisville history:
   -- The German Insurance Bank was founded in Louisville, Ky., on March 9,
      1854.  Louisville's first financial institution.
   -- The bank changed its name to Liberty Bank and Trust Company in 1918.
   -- The name changed to Liberty National Bank and Trust Company in 1935 to
      reflect the new national banking charter.
   -- It merged with Bank One in August 1994 (and changed its name in
      September 1995).

   Bank One in Louisville today:
   -- Louisville native Todd Munson is President of Bank One Kentucky.
   -- Bank One has 42 banking centers in the Louisville Metro area.  There
      are 84 in the Kentucky-Southern Indiana market.
   -- Bank One has 100 ATMs in Kentucky.
   -- Bank One rank by deposit market share: #2 in Louisville, #1 in
      Lexington, #4 in Kentucky.
   -- Bank One has 1,900 employees in Louisville, nearly 3,000 employees in
      Kentucky.
   -- Bank One payment processing centers in Louisville process more than
      1.1 billion items a year.
   -- Bank One contributes more than $1.5 million annually to charitable
      organizations in Kentucky.
   -- Over the past two years, Bank One has invested more than $15 million
      in its Louisville operations, adding two new branches, remodeling
      existing branches, and a major $3.5 million renovation of the downtown
      Marion E. Taylor building into a regional commercial loan center.  In
      2004, Bank One will invest another $4-5 million on two more branches
      in the Louisville area.

   Historical "Firsts:"
   -- 1854: Founding of the German Insurance Bank, Louisville's oldest
      financial institution (per the Kentucky Bankers Association).
   -- 1919: The first bank in Kentucky to receive a deposit by airplane,
      flown by famed pioneer aviator Robert Gast from Shelbyville, and
      dropped on the roof of the bank.
   -- 1922: The first bank to broadcast a radio program with commercials
      from WHAS, Louisville's first radio station.
   -- 1922: Instituted branch banking by opening offices at Seventh & Hill,
      Shelby St. south of Oak, and 18th & Oak.
   --1934: The first bank in Kentucky to air condition its lobby (Fourth
      Avenue office).
   -- 1942: First bank in Louisville to offer "pay as you go" checking
      account.  Checks were free but 5 cents was charged for each check
      cashed and item deposited.
   -- 1948: Thanksgiving Day: then-Liberty Bank sponsors the first TV
      program on WAVE-TV, the Male-Manual football game.  Also, then-
      president Merle E. Robertson was the first person to be interviewed on
      TV in Louisville.
   -- 1959: On Sept. 5, history was made in the apprehension of a bank
      robber, when the new electronic camera called "Cam-Eye" took a series
      of pictures of a robbery that took place at the Seventh & Hill branch.
      The identity of the robber was ascertained from the photos and a quick
      arrest was made.  The story received nationwide attention and led to
      the installation of the "Cam-Eye" at banks throughout the country.
   -- 1971: Introduced the first four ATMs in Kentucky (all in Louisville).
      Four more installed later that year, including the first ATM in an
      airport and the first two drive-up ATMs in the U.S.
   -- 1982: The first bank in Kentucky to join a national ATM network,
      giving customers access to more than 3,000 ATMs across the country.
   -- 1983: The first bank in Louisville to offer investment and brokerage
      services to customers.

   Main Offices through the years:
   -- 1854: first office located at the northeast corner of Fourth & Market
      (no photo)
   -- 1861: main office moved to Third Street between Main and Market (no
      photo)
   -- 1868: built new main office at 231 W. Market St. - photo available
   -- 1887: built new main office at Second and Market streets, with a tall
      clock tower -- the building exists today - photo available
   -- 1960: built new main office at 416 West Jefferson St. still in use
      today.  At the time described as "ultra-modern." - photo available

   Original directors and employees:
   -- Original directors of the German Insurance Bank: Jacob Laval
      (president), Carl Buetgenbach (secretary), Landin Eisenman, E.
      Sauermann, Jacob Schmitt, Franz Reidhar.  The six directors were also
      the original employees.

  Original Charter:


The original charter of March 9, 1854, reads: "Capital stock of said company
shall be $100,000 in shares of $50 each, with the right to increase said Capital
to any sum not exceeding $500,000.  When 1,000 shares or more of stock are
subscribed in part paid and secured to be paid as aforesaid, the said Company
shall have full right and power to transact the business contemplated by this
act ... ." 

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http://photoarchive.ap.org/

DATASOURCE: Bank One Corporation



CONTACT:  Media, Nancy Norris of Bank One Corporation, [phone]



Web site:  http://www.bankone.com/ 

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