National City Bank

Financial Savvy, Friendly Service

Throughout its 163-year history, National City Bank (NCB) fostered commerce in greater Cleveland. This commercial leadership increased its standing within the broader community. Known for its resilience, NCB offered friendly, innovative services to households throughout northern Ohio.

Cleveland became an industrial center, thanks in part to the financial support of NCB. Founded as the City Bank of Cleveland in 1845, its officers invested in a town of 10,000 residents engaged in a modest local trade. During the Civil War, the city grew by leaps and bounds, while the bank took on a new charter as the National City Bank of Cleveland. NCB steadily grew, by cultivating Cleveland's industrial elite as its customer base.

Through the Depression, NCB engendered trust among business leaders and the general public and, as a result, quadrupled in size. The growth continued in the postwar years. NCB honed its services to businessmen without forgetting ordinary consumers, particularly new suburban residents. Its efficient and automated banking services established NCB as one of the leading banks in Cuyahoga County.

The formation of a bank holding company, National City Corporation, in 1973 enabled the bank to extend its services. By 1984, NCC became the state's largest holding company. Four years later, NCC became an interstate bank with acquisitions in Kentucky, followed by Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Florida and Illinois. PNC Financial Services acquired National City Corporation in October 2008.