First American National Bank

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For other banks with a similar name, see First American Bank.

First American National Bank

Slogan	Where Banking Is Still a People Business About Life. About You.

Fate	Merged


Successor	AmSouth Bancorporation
Founded	September 1883 ^[1]
Defunct	October 1, 1999 ^[2]
Location	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Products	Financial Services

Old ad for American National Bank, predating its name change to First American.

First American National Bank was a subsidiary of First American National Corporation, a financial institution based in Nashville, Tennessee that served the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia. It was headquartered in the First American Center in downtown Nashville.

The bank began, in Nashville, as the American National Bank and later merged to become First American National Bank in the 1930s.

Its name and logo disappeared in December 2000 when it was acquired by AmSouth Bancorporation, an institution based in Birmingham, Alabama that was slightly smaller in size. First American had operated as a fully-owned subsidiary of AmSouth for most of the year 2000. First American was sold after a series of unprofitable mergers, including one with Jackson, Mississippi-based Deposit Guaranty Bank that proved to be a hurdle the corporation could not clear financially. Deposit Guaranty was fully integrated into First American, but kept its name. This allowed FANB to gain significant market share in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, though it did not operate these branches under the corporate brand.

First American's demise ended Nashville's storied history as a strong financial center. It, along with Third National Bank (now a part of SunTrust) and Commerce Union Bank (now a part of Bank of America), was once involved in a tight three-way battle for market share that ultimately helped all three banks expand well beyond their respective bounds. When the resources of the three could no longer stand the rapid expansion and numerous acquisitions, they all succumbed and merged with other banks. FANB, the largest of these three banks, was the only one to fold itself into a smaller institution. As of 2007, Nashville is still home to several local banks, but most do not exist outside of Davidson County.

Until 2005, AmSouth Bank continued First American's former tradition of having the highest market share in Nashville, however it was surpassed by SunTrust after its acquisition of Memphis-based National Commerce Financial. In 2006, however, AmSouth reclaimed the the distinction of largest market share in metropolitan Nashville. In 2006-2007, AmSouth merged with Regions Financial Corporation which is headquartered in Birmingham. The newly combined bank retained Nashville's largest market share [1] in addition to AmSouth's CEO, C. Dowd Ritter continuing as CEO of the company.

[edit] Sponsorships

First American was very visible in the Nashville area and carried a large load of sponsorships, most notably the now-closed First American Music Center, to which it held naming rights for just one season before selling to AmSouth. First American also prided itself as the "official bank" of several Nashville-based sports franchises, including the Tennessee Titans, Nashville Predators, Nashville Kats, and Nashville Sounds. Following the purchase, the Titans sponsorship became the only one that AmSouth renewed.

[edit] Other First American Banks

There are several regional banks around the United States that now carry the "First American" name. One in particular, in Mississippi, has adopted the full name "First American National Bank". None of these regional institutions are affiliated with the former First American National Bank or AmSouth Bancorporation.