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This article is about a Puerto Rican bank. For the bank based in Spain, see: Banco Popular Español.
Popular, Inc. is a financial services company that has been operating in Puerto Rico for over 112 years, and in the United States for almost 52. In recent years it has expanded into the Caribbean and Central America. It is better known as Banco Popular, and sometimes, but it is also regarded as BPPR.
Popular Inc. is the parent company of: Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Banco Popular North America and Evertec.
The company, which started out as a simple Puertorican bank, was founded in 1893 and led in its early stages by Rafael Carrion, Sr. His son will continue the family legacy, and bring the bank into new levels of technology and innovation. Richard Carrion, Rafael Carrion's grandson, is the current President and CEO of Popular Inc.
During the 1970s, Banco Popular's commercials were very popular in Puerto Rico's television: they presented a balding, middle aged man in a white t-shirt, announcing the company in a comic way. The 70's also saw a giant step in the development of Banco Popular as Puerto Rico's biggest bank, when it bought 2/3 of the Banco de Credito y Ahorro Ponceno. By buying this bank, Popular introduced itself to the Credit Card business.
During the following decades, Banco Popular put a lot of emphasis on the company's public image. It was during the 1980s, after the Carrion patriarch's death, that Richard Carrion took over as President of the corporation.
In 1989, the bank introduced a children's savings service with a bear, Populoso, as its mascot. The Club del Ahorro was (and still is) intended to promote the act of saving money in children.
The following decade started with a big development for the bank, when it merged with Banco de Ponce (1990). With this merger Popular went an extra mile in the development of its domination in the Puertorican banking industry. At this time, the "corporation" Banco Popular de Puerto Rico changed its name to BanPonce.
During the 1990s, Banco Popular began to record live concerts with Puerto Rico's top singers as well as some international ones. The bank then sold the concert CDs and video tapes, adding another advertising channel, as well as raising money for their foundation (which benefits a variety of non-profit organizations of the island).
The bank still had a major development at hand, when it bought Banco Roigh (one of the main banks in the eastern side of the island). With this purchase, completed in the year 1997, the bank approached an area they had almost failed to access.
During the ending years of the 90's, BanPonce started to diversify its services (due specially to the revision of laws that allowed banks some 'privileges' related to different financial services). This years saw the birth of Popular Auto, Popular Finance, Popular Mortgage, Popular Securities, Popular Insurance, Popular Leasing, among others.
Due to its growth in Puerto Rico, and the aggressive expansion in the US, the company changed its name once again in 2000. Popular Inc was the name chose, one that goes back to the tradition roots of the corporation, but that also reflects the common denominator in almost all of the subsidiaries of the company.
As noted before, it was during this time that the company divided itself in three areas. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (with David Chafey, Jr as its current President), Banco Popular North America (with Roberto Herencia as the current President) and Evertec (with Felix Villamil as its current President). Richard Carrion remained as President and CEO of the parent company, Popular Inc.
Evertec was born after the purchase of the GM Group. The main purpose of Evertec is to serve as a processing company (related to the ATM network, card processes, POS, and other technical details). Evertec is not limited to Banco Popular, as it also serves other banks in the island. This subsidiary also maintains Popular's overseas networks (specially in ATH Dominicana and ATH Costa Rico).
Its head office, located in the San Juan area known as Hato Rey, is on the avenue known as La Milla de Oro, or The Golden Mile because of the abundance of bank headquarters located there. Painted for decades in gray, the building has been repainted in gold to reflect its location. Travellers who fly into Luis Munoz Marin International Airport often observe Banco Popular's main headquarters from their airplane windows.
Popular is the largest bank in Puerto Rico, and the largest hispanic bank in the United States. It is classified as one of the top 100 banks nation-wide. Also, is subsidiaries are rated as #1 or close to that number, with a customer base that grows each year.
On the January 24, 2005 issue of Fortune Magazine, Popular Inc. was chosen as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.
History
- 1893: A group of local Puerto Rican and Spanish notables founded the Sociedad Anónima de Economías y Préstamos (later Banco Popular de Economías y Préstamos) on October 5, 1893. The founders wanted to create a thrift institution for the island’s poor to encourage savings.
- 1928: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer personal loans without collateral.
- 1930: Popular acquired the Banco Comercial de Puerto Rico. This bank had begun in 1857 as Banco Español de Puerto Rico and changed its name to Banco de Puerto Rico in 1900. Then in 1913 it changed its name to Banco Comercial de Puerto Rico.
- 1938: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer an FHA mortgage loan.
- 1950: Popular becomes the largest bank in Puerto Rico.
- 1961: Popular opened a branch in New York City (Bronx) to serve the Puerto Rican community there.
- 1973: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer combined accounts.
- 1975: Popular opened a branch in Los Angeles. Although US banks could not branch across state lines, non-US banks could. The California State Superintendent of Banking declared Puerto Rico “international”, allowing Popular to open a branch in reciprocity for the branch Bank of America had opened in Puerto Rico.
- 1981: Popular started to expand in the Caribbean by establishing a branch in the US Virgin Islands and another in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
- 1984: Popular took over the failed Washington National Bank, a locally-owned bank catering to the Hispanic community in Chicago. Popular also launched the first automated teller machine network in the island.
- 1988: Popular is the first bank in Puerto Rico to offer phone-banking.
- 1990: Popular merged with Banco de Ponce to create the largest bank in Puerto Rico. The holding company took the name BanPonce. (Banco de Ponce had established an agency in New York that it had converted to a branch in 1961. At the time of the merger, Banco de Ponce had nine branches in New York to Popular's six.)
- 1991: Popular acquired the deposits and one branch of New York Capital Bank in upper Manhattan, an unsuccessful attempt to revive the failed Capital National Bank, which had served most of the Dominican small businesses there.
- 1992: Popular acquired seven branches from the failed American Savings Bank, four branches and their deposits from Bank Leumi Trust Company, and one branch and its deposits from Northside Savings Bank.
- 1993: Popular became the largest bank in the Virgin Islands when it acquired CoreStates First Pennsylvania Bank's five branches there. Century Anniversary.
- 1994: Popular bought Pioneer Bank in Chicago and merged it with Popular's existing operations. Popular also entered New Jersey by buying four branches from the failed Carteret Savings Bank failed. It then opened two more branches, to form Banco Popular FSB (a federal savings association).
- 1995: Popular established the ATH Dominicana ATM network in the Dominican Republic. (ATH stands for A todos horas. i.e., "at all hours".)
- 1996: Popular bought American Midwest Bank for its two branches in suburban Melrose Park, a Chicago suburb that was drawing Hispanics. In California, Popular created a subsidiary, Banco Popular NA (California), bought Commerce National Bank, and transferred to it the branch that it had established in 1975.
- 1997: Popular acquired Seminole Bank in Sanford, and Banco Roigh in Puerto Rico..
- 1998: Popular made Chicago the headquarters for the US Executive Offices of its subsidiary, Popular North America, which took over all its US mainland commercial activities. In the Dominican Republic Popular took a minority position in Banco Fiduciario, the fourth largest bank, a stake that it later built up to a majority position. Popular entered Costa Rica as it had entered the Dominican Republic, Popular entered Costa Rica in the same way as it had entered the Dominican Republic, i.e., by establishing an ATM network, ATH Costa Rica.
- 1999: Popular bought First State Bank of Southern California from Korea’s Hanil Bank and merged it with Popular (California). In the Chicago area, Popular bought Irving Bank, Water Tower Bank and Aurora National Bank. Popular also bought Banco Popular, a start-up bank in Orlando, Florida, and Citizens Bank in Houston, Texas. In addition, Popular bought the GM Group, entering the processing business.
Competitors (in Puerto Rico
- Citibank
- Banco Santander
- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
- Eurobank
- Scotiabank
- First Bank
- Doral Bank
- Oriental Financial Co.
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