Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño (Ponce Credit and Savings Bank) was the first bank in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

,''Banks and Commercial Building: Puerto Rico.''
Edward E. Crain. Historic Architecture in the Caribbean Islands. . The University Press of Florida. 1994. Page 229. Retrieved 29 June 2012. and one of the first two native Puerto Rican banks to be established in Puerto Rico. The bank was the first one to introduce a bank credit card to the Puerto Rican market.''Visa cardholders in P.R. number 380,000. (Puerto Rico).''
Mari Carmen Schell. Caribbean Business. 23 April 1992. Retrieved 29 June 2012. With over 50 branches throughout the island, the bank was one of the largest banking companies in Puerto Rico during most of the twentieth century. Founded in 1895, Banco Crédito built its own first banking structure in 1924 at Calle Marina and Callejón Amor, in Ponce. This first branch office, located in what is today the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (''La Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone go ...

, has since been declared historic and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The bank collapsed in 1978 and was acquired by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

. Its accounts and assets were purchased by

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

and

Banco Santander Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres ...

History

Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño was founded on 1 January 1895, and it prospered significantly during the first half of the twentieth century. The bank built its first and main branch in downtown Ponce in 1924, the same that the younger

Banco de Ponce Banco de Ponce was the Puerto Rican bank with the largest number of branches in the United States and second largest bank in deposits and number of branches in Puerto Rico during the twentieth century. Founded in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the e ...

had built an equally impressive main office next to Banco Crédito's property.Mariano G. Coronas Castro, Certifying Official; Felix J. del Campo, State Historian, and Jorge Ortiz, Architect, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 27 March 1987. ''Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño.'' In, ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form''. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 3. Listing Reference Number 87001002. 27 April 1987. Banco Crédito's prosperity translated into the opening of new branches in other towns in Puerto Rico, at one point having over fifty branches spread across most of the 78

municipalities of Puerto Rico The municipalities of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''municipios de Puerto Rico'') are the second-level administrative divisions in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. There are 78 such administrative divisions covering all 78 incorporated towns and cities ...

. In 1969, it was also Banco Crédito that introduced the first bank credit card—BankAmericard (now

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

) -- in Puerto Rico. Despite its achievements, 83 years after its founding, on 1 April 1978, Banco Crédito collapsed and its branches and accounts were sold to Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and to Banco Santander with the assistance of the

. Banco Santader acquired 14 of Crédito's branch offices.

Location

The bank's main office was located on Calle Marina and Paseo Arias (Arias Promenade), facing west towards

Plaza Degetau Plaza Degetau, formally Plaza Federico Degetau, is the larger of two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias, the main city square in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The other plaza is named Plaza Muñoz Rivera and is located north of Plaza Degetau. The ...

and bounded in the east by Calle Mayor Cantera. The building of the impressive Banco Crédito structure in downtown Ponce was meant to send a message from the local financial institution to the US-based banks that Banco Crédito was ready to market aggressively for the wealth of Puerto Rico's booming

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

economy.: "Banco Crédito's monumental exuberance expresses the pride of the institution, its solidity, and its capacity to hold its own against far more wealthy Stateside institutions competing for the dollars of the local moneyed classes."

Antonio S. Arias Ventura

Paseo Arias was previously called ''Callejón Amor'' (Love Alley). In 1991, Callejón Amor was converted into a

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

and renamed Paseo Antonio S. Arias Ventura, after the long-time employee of Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño who started as a custodian and rose to become the bank's general manager.

Directors

Among the directors and officers of this prominent bank were some of the most recognized names in the city of Ponce and Puerto Rico at large, including former Ponce mayor (1898),

Ulpiano Colóm Ricardo Ulpiano Colóm y Ferrer (3 April 1861 – 13 February 1906) was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, during part of 1898. He was the second of two mayors to lead the municipality of Ponce under the Spanish Crown's "Decreto Autonómico para ...

. The bank's first president and one of its founders was

Francisco Parra Duperón Francisco Parra Duperón (1827–1899) born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, was a lawyer and banker. He became a lawyer at a young age and moved from Mayagüez to Ponce, Puerto Rico where he established his law practice. He was also one of the foun ...

Ermelindo Salazar Ermelindo Salazar Schuck (ca. 1830 – ca. 1910) was interim Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from May to 10 July 1887. He filled the mayoral post between the resignation of mayor Ramón Elices Montes and the arrival of Fernando Diez de Ulzur ...

was both a director and a Banco Crédito president. Its founders were Lucas Amadeo, Francisco Parra Duperón, and Antonio Frías.Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. ''Ponce Ciudad Museo 2001.'' 2001. p. 85.

Motto

The bank's 1960s motto was "Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño: el banco del grande y del pequeño." (''"Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño: the bank of the big (guy) and the little (guy)"'').

Contemporary use

Today, Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño's former building in downtown Ponce continues to serve as a bank branch for

Banco de Santander Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres ...

, the Spanish concern that bought the assets of Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño in 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banco Credito Y Ahorro Ponceno Defunct banks of insular areas of the United States Banks of Puerto Rico Companies based in Ponce, Puerto Rico Defunct companies of Puerto Rico Banks established in 1895 Banks disestablished in 1978 1895 establishments in Puerto Rico