Rainier Bancorporation was the
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
-based parent corporation of Rainier National Bank, a
Washington state
Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
bank with branches throughout the state. Rainier traced its roots back to the National Bank of Commerce, which was founded by Richard Holyoke in 1889. The name Rainier National Bank was adopted in 1974. Rainier Bancorp expanded into Alaska with the purchase of
Anchorage
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
's People's Bank & Trust in 1983 and into Oregon with the purchase of
Gresham's Mount Hood Security Bank in 1986,
expanding further in Oregon in 1986 with the government-assisted purchase of
Portland's failed Lincoln Savings & Loan Association
(not related to the Californian thrift of the same named that failed in 1989).
After a brief bidding war with
First Bank System,
Rainier Bancorp. was acquired by
Security Pacific Corporation in 1987 for $1.15 billion in stock.
At the time of its acquisition, it was the second largest bank in the state. After the merger, Rainier Bancorporation was renamed Security Pacific Bancorporation Northwest, and Rainier National Bank was renamed Security Pacific Bank Washington.
Rainier Bank Alaska was renamed Security Pacific Bank Alaska.
Rainier Bank Oregon was merged into recently acquired Oregon Bank to form Security Pacific Bank Oregon.
In 1992, Security Pacific Bank merged with
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
-based
BankAmerica
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Ca ...
(now called Bank of America), a deal that was at the time one of the largest bank mergers in history. Federal regulators, however, forced the divestiture of over half of the former Rainier Bank Washington state franchise (having been renamed Security Pacific Bank Washington, N.A. in 1989), as the combination of BankAmerica's
Seafirst subsidiary and Rainier would have given BankAmerica too large a share of the retail banking market in Washington state. While 82 branches were retained and consolidated with Seafirst, 38 were sold to West One Bancorp (now itself merged into
U.S. Bancorp) and 48 to
KeyBank.
References
External links
* (high resolution binaries; large file sizes)
Defunct banks of the United States
Defunct companies based in Seattle
Banks established in 1889
Banks disestablished in 1987
1889 establishments in Washington (state)
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