Bank One Set to Celebrate 150 Years of Serving Customers in Louisville Special Birthday Celebration at 10:30 a.m. March 9, Bank One Main Office 416 W. Jefferson St. LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bank One will celebrate 150 years of serving customers in Louisville on Tuesday, March 9, by serving Adam Mathews Gorilla Forest cake and giving away commemorative keepsakes at its 42 Louisville-area locations. A special Birthday Celebration will take place at the Bank One Main Office,416 W. Jefferson St., at 10:30 a.m. The media and public are invited to attend. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030116/NYTH053LOGO ) Bank One traces its roots in Louisville to the German Insurance Bank, founded on March 9, 1854. That bank changed its name to Liberty Bank in 1918, and merged with Bank One in 1994. Bank One is the oldest financial institution founded in Louisville. "We are proud of Bank One's heritage in Louisville," said Todd Munson, President of Bank One Kentucky."We want to share our pride with our customers and the community." Munson will host the Birthday Celebration at the Main Office. A huge Adam Matthews Gorilla Forest Cake will be served. Historic photographs of the bank and the city will be on display. Special guests include retired bank chairmen Frank Hower and Billy Joe Phelps. A sweepstakes will be held March 6-20. The grand prize is a 42" Sony Grand Wega large screen TV. Also awarded will be 150 $100 Best Buy gift certificates. Free scratch-off game tickets will be available at Bank One banking centers and in a special newspaper insert. Bank One contributes more than $1.5 million annually to Louisville-area charitable organizations, and many of Bank One's nearly 2,000 local employees are active volunteers, contributing thousands of hours of their time and expertise to projects and organizations in the community. Bank One Corporation ( http://www.bankone.com/ ) is the nation's sixth-largest bank holding company, with assets of more than $325 billion. Bank One currently has more than 50 million credit cards issued, nearly 7 million retail households, and approximately 20,000 middle market customers. It also manages more than $185 billion of clients' investment assets. List of Bank One Louisville historical "Firsts and Facts" on the following pages. Historic photographs available for publication upon request. Bank One Louisville history: -- The German Insurance Bank was founded in Louisville, Ky., on March 9, 1854. Louisville's first financial institution. -- The bank changed its name to Liberty Bank and Trust Company in 1918. -- The name changed to Liberty National Bank and Trust Company in 1935 to reflect the new national banking charter. -- It merged with Bank One in August 1994 (and changed its name in September 1995). Bank One in Louisville today: -- Louisville native Todd Munson is President of Bank One Kentucky. -- Bank One has 42 banking centers in the Louisville Metro area. There are 84 in the Kentucky-Southern Indiana market. -- Bank One has 100 ATMs in Kentucky. -- Bank One rank by deposit market share: #2 in Louisville, #1 in Lexington, #4 in Kentucky. -- Bank One has 1,900 employees in Louisville, nearly 3,000 employees in Kentucky. -- Bank One payment processing centers in Louisville process more than 1.1 billion items a year. -- Bank One contributes more than $1.5 million annually to charitable organizations in Kentucky. -- Over the past two years, Bank One has invested more than $15 million in its Louisville operations, adding two new branches, remodeling existing branches, and a major $3.5 million renovation of the downtown Marion E. Taylor building into a regional commercial loan center. In 2004, Bank One will invest another $4-5 million on two more branches in the Louisville area. Historical "Firsts:" -- 1854: Founding of the German Insurance Bank, Louisville's oldest financial institution (per the Kentucky Bankers Association). -- 1919: The first bank in Kentucky to receive a deposit by airplane, flown by famed pioneer aviator Robert Gast from Shelbyville, and dropped on the roof of the bank. -- 1922: The first bank to broadcast a radio program with commercials from WHAS, Louisville's first radio station. -- 1922: Instituted branch banking by opening offices at Seventh & Hill, Shelby St. south of Oak, and 18th & Oak. --1934: The first bank in Kentucky to air condition its lobby (Fourth Avenue office). -- 1942: First bank in Louisville to offer "pay as you go" checking account. Checks were free but 5 cents was charged for each check cashed and item deposited. -- 1948: Thanksgiving Day: then-Liberty Bank sponsors the first TV program on WAVE-TV, the Male-Manual football game. Also, then- president Merle E. Robertson was the first person to be interviewed on TV in Louisville. -- 1959: On Sept. 5, history was made in the apprehension of a bank robber, when the new electronic camera called "Cam-Eye" took a series of pictures of a robbery that took place at the Seventh & Hill branch. The identity of the robber was ascertained from the photos and a quick arrest was made. The story received nationwide attention and led to the installation of the "Cam-Eye" at banks throughout the country. -- 1971: Introduced the first four ATMs in Kentucky (all in Louisville). Four more installed later that year, including the first ATM in an airport and the first two drive-up ATMs in the U.S. -- 1982: The first bank in Kentucky to join a national ATM network, giving customers access to more than 3,000 ATMs across the country. -- 1983: The first bank in Louisville to offer investment and brokerage services to customers. Main Offices through the years: -- 1854: first office located at the northeast corner of Fourth & Market (no photo) -- 1861: main office moved to Third Street between Main and Market (no photo) -- 1868: built new main office at 231 W. Market St. - photo available -- 1887: built new main office at Second and Market streets, with a tall clock tower -- the building exists today - photo available -- 1960: built new main office at 416 West Jefferson St. still in use today. At the time described as "ultra-modern." - photo available Original directors and employees: -- Original directors of the German Insurance Bank: Jacob Laval (president), Carl Buetgenbach (secretary), Landin Eisenman, E. Sauermann, Jacob Schmitt, Franz Reidhar. The six directors were also the original employees. Original Charter: The original charter of March 9, 1854, reads: "Capital stock of said company shall be $100,000 in shares of $50 each, with the right to increase said Capital to any sum not exceeding $500,000. When 1,000 shares or more of stock are subscribed in part paid and secured to be paid as aforesaid, the said Company shall have full right and power to transact the business contemplated by this act ... ." http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030116/NYTH053LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Bank One Corporation CONTACT: Media, Nancy Norris of Bank One Corporation, +1-502-566-3620 Web site: http://www.bankone.com/

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