The National Bank of Detroit (NBD), later renamed NBD Bank, was a bank that operated mostly in the Midwestern United States. Following its merger with First National Bank of Chicago, the bank was ultimately acquired and merged into Bank One, at which point the NBD name was discontinued. Today, what was once NBD is owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
NBD was founded in 1933 in Detroit in the midst of widespread bank failures during the Great Depression. Spurred by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to help stabilize the nation's banking system, NBD's shares were initially equally owned by General Motors (GM) and by the U.S. government under the RFC. The bank opened for business on March 24, 1933. By 1945, GM had divested of its ownership in NBD and by 1947 the RFC had ended its involvement.
In 1995, NBD merged with the First National Bank of Chicago; the combined bank was called First Chicago NBD. First Chicago NBD later merged with Bank One, which eliminated the NBD name. Bank One was itself purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. As of March 2006, all former NBD branches carry the Chase name.
NBD had branches in Toronto and Windsor, Ontario, and overseas in London's Finsbury Circus, in Tokyo, and in Frankfurt.
Until 1995, NBD was headquartered in the National Bank of Detroit Building (now Chase Tower).