This article is about a Puerto Rican bank. For the bank based in Spain, see: Banco Popular Español.

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico is a banking company that has been operating in Puerto Rico for over 100 years, and in the United States for almost 50. In recent years it has expanded into the Caribbean and Central America. It is better known as Banco Popular, and sometimes, it is also known as BPPR.

The Carrion family owns Banco Popular, whose current CEO is Richard Carrion. 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.

During the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, 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. Carrion became an important figure in Puerto Rico's failed Olympic bid for the 2004 Olympics. In 1989, the bank introduced a children's savings service with a bear, Populoso, as its mascot. Prior to that, in 1983, Banco Popular was the sponsor of a piano album released by former Puerto Rico governor Luis A. Ferré.

During the 1990s, Banco Popular began to record live concerts with Puerto Rico's top singers as well as some international ones, to honor Puerto Rico's singing legends. The bank then sold the concert CDs and video tapes, adding another advertising channel. Also during this time, future governor Sila María Calderón worked at Banco Popular.

Banco Popular gives away hundreds of t-shirts and hats every year to customers and potential customers, making its name one of the most ubiquitous in Puerto 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.

According to the company, they are the largest hispanic banking company in the United States. Among the company's divisions are Popular Leasing, Popular Mortgage and Popular Auto.

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: BanPonce, the holding company for Banco Popular, changed its name to Popular Inc. to unify the group's operations under one brand name. Popular also acquired Seminole Bank in Sanford. just north of Orlando, Florida.

• 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.

• 2000: Popular begins its online banking system, http://www.mibancopopular.com.