American Fletcher National Bank was an Indianapolis-based bank founded in 1839 that was eventually absorbed by Bank One and later Chase Bank. Since the merger of the Fletcher Trust Company with the American National Bank to form the American Fletcher National Bank and Trust Company at the end of 1954, it had been the largest or the second largest bank in the state of Indiana, often changing places with its Indianapolis-based rival Indiana National Bank for the top spot. From the mid-1950s through the late-1980s, American Fletcher National Bank and Trust, along with Indiana National Bank and Merchants National Bank, was one of the top three largest banks within Indianapolis and its holding company, American Fletcher Corporation, was one of the top three largest bank holding companies within the state, along with INB Financial Corporation (formerly Indiana National Corporation) and Merchants National Corporation.
In the 1970s and 1980s, they were well known for owning every 222-prefixed number in the 317 area code. Officially, this number was 222-AFNB (2362), but since any combination would work, most people just dialed seven 2s. This line would provide a recorded message with the time, weather, and other announcements. This service was discontinued in 1986 and the number 222-2222 was later used by Indianapolis radio station WIBC for use as their weather line.
History
American Fletcher National Bank and Trust Company (AFNB) was formed on December 31, 1954, upon the merger of the Fletcher Trust Company with the American National Bank to form the second largest bank in the state at that time. Evan Woollen Jr., former president of Fletcher Trust, became president of the combined company. With the merger with the Fidelity Bank & Trust Company into the company on July 31, 1959, AFNB became the largest bank in the state. Woollen had died just a month prior to the completion of the merger. Frank E. McKinney Sr., the leader of Fidelity since 1935, became in charge of AFNB.
American Fletcher was one of the earliest issuers of bank credit cards within the state of Indiana with the introduction of their proprietary AFNB Charge Card in May 1966. By early 1967, the AFNB Charge Card was associated with the regional Midwest Bank Card System, an early forerunner of MasterCard. Outside of Marion County, American Fletcher franchised their charge card to other Indiana banks, such as the Merchants National Bank of Terre Haute.
American Fletcher Corporation
In 1968, a holding corporation called American Fletcher Corporation (AFC) was formed to be the new parent company for the bank and allow the company to acquire banks outside its home county once the Indiana Legislature pass legislation that would allow such actions. At that time, American Fletcher had 41 branches throughout Indianapolis and Marion County. It was not until July 1, 1985, that the laws enacted by the Indiana State Legislature went to effect that permitted the acquisition of banks outside of its home county along with extremely limited branching.
McKinney's son, Frank E. McKinney Jr., was named president in 1972 and chairman of the board in 1973. He had helped to greatly expand the bank through the acquisition of other banks, especially when banking restrictions were relaxed.
The bank made its first expansion move outside of Marion County by the acquisition of the offices and assets of the failed Shelby National Bank of Shelbyville in Shelby County, from the FDIC for $4.5 million in April 1984. The failed bank was immediately integrated into AFNB.
Just days after a new law went into effect which allowed bank holding companies to own more than one bank and to cross county lines, AFC announced in July 1985 of their pending acquisition of the Union Bank and Trust Co. of Franklin in Johnson County for $10.2 million followed by the August announcement of the pending acquisition of the First American National Bank of Plainfield in Hendricks County for $14.1 million and the September announcement of the pending acquisition of the Carmel Bank & Trust Co. in Hamilton County.
The acquisition of the Union Bank and Trust in Franklin was finalized in December 1985 just after Union Bank opened a branch office in Columbus. State laws at that time would not have allowed AFNB to open a banking office in Columbus, but it allowed AFC a presence in Bartholomew County if Union bank was able to open a banking branch office prior to the merger going into effect.