Huntington Bancshares

Huntington National Bank is a public bank that serves both individuals and businesses. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $64 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The Huntington National Bank, founded in 1866, and its affiliates provide full-service commercial, small business, and consumer banking services; mortgage banking services; treasury management and foreign exchange services; equipment leasing; wealth and investment management services; trust services; brokerage services; customized insurance brokerage and service programs; and other financial products and services. The principal markets for these services are Huntington’s six-state retail banking franchise: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. 

The primary distribution channels include a banking network of more than 700 traditional branches and convenience branches located in grocery stores and retirement centres and through an array of alternative distribution channels including internet and mobile banking, telephone banking, and more than 1,400 ATMs. Through automotive dealership relationships within its six-state retail banking franchise area and selected other Midwest and New England states, Huntington also provides commercial banking services to automotive dealers and retail automobile financing for dealer customers.

1866: Founded in 1866, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers, small and middle-market businesses, corporations, municipalities, and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, wealth management, and risk management products and services. P. W. Huntington formed P. W. Huntington & Company, operating on the northwest corner of High and Broad Streets; the site now houses the regional headquarters for rival United States Bancorp.

1878: Their steady growth over the years allowed for its big expansion. Huntington built its first five-story building, on the intersection's southwest corner.

1905: The bank was incorporated as the Huntington National Bank of Columbus. Huntington Bank made its first mark in history by rapidly expanding its operations and obtaining a national charter.

1923: Huntington purchased Columbus-based State Savings Bank & Trust Company and the Hayden-Clinton National Bank of Columbus, swelling its capital base.

1958: Upon further growth, Huntington Bank opened its first branch office. Huntington acquired the Columbus-based Market Exchange Bank Company.

1962: Huntington acquired both First National Bank of Grove City and The People's Bank of Canal Winchester.

1963: Noted for his emphasis on loyalty, Stevenson is recorded in company annals as having told a colleague, "Run the place as though you owned it, but never fool yourself into thinking that you do." Clair E. Fultz assumed Stevenson's duties as president. Huntington acquired both The Columbus Savings Bank and the Columbus-based Northern Savings Bank.

1965: Huntington's trust division had grown so large that a separate building, connected to the main bank by an underground tunnel, was created to separately house that operation.

1966: this year marked Huntington's 100th anniversary. Huntington created an international banking division that would eventually provide important financial services for foreign banks and companies. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (HBI) was established as a bank holding company.

1967: Huntington Bancshares acquired the Washington Court House-based Washington Savings Bank.

1969: Acquired the Ashland-based Farmers Bank.

1970: It also acquired the Bowling Green-based The Bank of Wood County Company, the Toledo-based Lucas County State Bank, and Lagonda National Bank of Springfield.

1971: Sofia, a native of Lebanon, came to the United States as a teenager and joined Huntington’s start-up international division. Huntington Bancshares acquired First National Bank & Trust Company of Lima, The Woodville State Bank, and the Kent-based Portage National Bank.

1972: It acquired The First National Bank of Wadsworth and The First National Bank of Kenton, also establishing the first 24-hour, fully automated banking office.

1975: Under the direction of a new president, Arthur D. Herrmann, who took office, Bancshares created new financial services divisions to place under its corporate umbrella. The company changed its logo to its current "honeycomb" logo.

1976: The Huntington Mortgage Company formed as a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares with The Pickerington Bank being merged into the bank.

1977: Huntington Bancshares acquired The Bellefontaine National Bank, The Central National Bank of London, and Columbus-based Franklin National Bank.

1979: State deregulation of the banking industry provided new opportunities for Huntington to enlarge its already ballooning organization. A loan production office opened in Dayton, Ohio.

1980: Farmers & Merchants Bank, Milford Center and The First National Bank of Burton were merged with Huntington Bancshares.

1981: The bank acquired Alexandria Bank Company and renamed it The Huntington State Bank, with a loan production office opening in Cincinnati.

1983: The bank acquired Cleveland-based Union Commerce Bank.

1984: Wobst became chairman and chief executive, ceding his presidential duties to 40-year-old Zu-heir Sofia.

1986: Huntington completed four major acquisitions of banks in those three states, and also extended operations of some of its subsidiaries into Florida, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and several other states. Huntington Bank formed a Community Banking Group with 43 banking offices in small cities across central and northern Ohio.

1987: Huntington Bank introduced Global Trade Access, a computer-based automated system that allowed customers who conducted international transactions to issue and receive information on their letters of credit activity.

1989: Huntington boasted $10.9 billion in assets and 248 offices in 11 states. Fultz, Clair E., Huntington: A Family & a Bank, Columbus, Ohio: Huntington Bancshares Inc.

1992: “Huntington Celebrates 125th Anniversary with Lasting Contributions,” Columbus Dispatch, February 16, Sec. Foster, Pamela E., “Bad Loans Prompt Huntington to Trim Jobs,” Business First-Columbus, June 22, sec. “Huntington Bank Gets High Marks for Customer Service, Technology,” Business First-Columbus, December 14, sec. Amatos, Christopher A., “Banker Sees Technology as Source of Profits,” Columbus Dispatch, December 29, Sec. “Huntington Bank Gets High Marks for Customer Service, Technology,” Business First-Columbus, December 14, Sec.

1993: In addition, its stock price surged more than 25 percent, reflecting Huntington’s potential for future expansion.

1994: Phillips, Cynthia, “The Huntington National Bank Introduces Visa Check Card as the New Shape of Checking,” PR Newswire, April 4. Hohmann, George, “Huntington Banks Building $4 Million Fairmont Facility,” State Journal, May, Sec. Huntington had become the 40th largest bank in the United States (by assets) by this year and was operating more than 450 banking and financial services offices in 17 states. Form 10-K: Huntington Bancshares Inc., Columbus, Ohio: Huntington Bancshares, Inc.

1995: The bank acquired three, smaller-size privately owned banks in Florida, more than doubling its asset base in that state to some $600 million.

1996: Huntington then pushed its Florida assets past the $1 billion mark in January when it acquired Peoples Bank of Lakeland, a commercial bank with ten offices in the Lakeland area and assets of approximately $550 million.

1997: The bank acquired First Michigan Bank Corporation of Holland, Michigan.

1998: By the end of the year, Huntington ranked as the 31st largest bank in the United States with assets of $28.3 billion and 529 branches in six states, including 187 in Ohio, 135 in Michigan, and 126 in Florida. Then, Huntington launched a realignment effort aimed at yielding annual pretax savings of $125 million.

1999: Furthermore, as part of an effort to free up resources to invest in operations with higher growth potential, Huntington in October sold its credit card portfolio to Chase Manhattan Bank, resulting in a net gain of $108.5 million.

2000: According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Top 2000 Largest Public Companies in the World and one of the World’s Best Banks. Then in the third quarter, the company was forced to take a $33 million charge to write down the value of its auto-leasing portfolio.

2001: Hoaglin launched a major restructuring, which involved decentralizing operations, cutting the bank’s dividend by 20 percent, and closing 38 branches in the Midwest. In September 2001 Huntington reached an agreement to sell its Florida banking business to Sun-Trust Banks, Inc., for $705 million in cash.

2002: As part of the decentralization effort and also aiming to forge closer relationships with bank customers, Huntington repositioned itself as the “local bank with national resources.” Hoaglin’s initiatives paid off when earnings were up sharply from the previous year. The company sold its branches in Florida to SunTrust Banks for $705 million.

2004: In January Huntington reached an agreement to acquire Unizan Financial Corp., a bank based in Canton, Ohio, for $587 million in stock.

2005: In the spring Huntington reached separate deals with the banking regulators and the SEC. In the case of the SEC, Huntington and three current and former officers, including Hoaglin, agreed to pay more than $8.6 million in civil penalties as part of the settlement.

2006: In March, the company acquired Unizan Financial. Also, Huntington agreed to purchase the naming rights for a new stadium in Columbus.

2007: The company acquired Sky Financial Group Inc. Based in Columbus, Ohio, with around $36 billion in assets, Huntington operates more than 380 branches and nearly 1,000 ATMs in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky.

2008: Scheduled to open that year, Huntington Park was to be the new home for the Columbus Clippers, the top minor league baseball team for the New York Yankees.

2009: On October 3, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation named Huntington as receiver of a $400 million deposit portfolio from the bank failure of Warren Bank in Warren, Michigan. Huntington bid against rival Fifth Third Bank to acquire National City Corp. branches in the Pittsburgh region from PNC Financial Services.

2012: In March, the bank acquired Dearborn-based Fidelity Bank. Huntington was in merger discussions with Flint, Michigan-based Citizens Republic Bancorp. Huntington started displaying old checks that were written by famous people, including 24 former United States Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Niles, Ohio native William McKinley.

2014: In March, the company acquired Ohio-based Camco Financial, the holding company for Advantage Bank, for $97 million in stock.

2015: The company acquired Michigan-based Macquarie Equipment Finance, Inc. from Sydney, Australia-based Macquarie Group for $458 million.

2016: Huntington announced it would purchase Akron-based FirstMerit Corporation for $3.4 billion, making it one of the largest banks in Ohio.

2019: However, the merger between Chemical Bank and TCF was completed with the merged company retaining the TCF name.
 

“We at Huntington are committed to doing the right thing for our customers, colleagues, shareholders and communities.”

“Providing competitive products and services and delivering a superior customer experience, always striving to earn the trust of our customers. Delivering long-term shareholder value through top-tier performance, while maintaining an aggregate moderate-to-low risk appetite and well-capitalized position.”