U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is a bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank, National Association, known as U.S. Bank, which is ranked 7th on the list of largest banks in the United States. The company provides banking, investment, mortgage, trust, and payment services products to individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and other financial institutions. It has 3,106 branches and 4,842 ATMs, primarily in the Midwestern United States. The company also owns Elavon, a processor of credit card transactions.

U.S. Bancorp operates under the second-oldest continuous national charter, originally Charter #24, granted in 1863 following the passage of the National Bank Act. Earlier charters have expired as banks were closed or acquired, raising U.S. Bank's charter number from #24 to #2. The oldest national charter, originally granted to the First National Bank of Philadelphia, is held by Wells Fargo, which it obtained upon its merger with Wachovia.

The U.S. Bank name first appeared as United States National Bank of Portland, established in Portland, Oregon, in 1891. It changed its name to the United States National Bank of Oregon in 1964. In 1902, it merged with Ainsworth National Bank of Portland, but kept the U.S. National Bank name. The decision turned out to be advantageous for the bank, as a 1913 federal law prohibited other banks from using “United States” in their names from that time forward. U.S. National was among the first banks to form a bank holding company — called U.S. Bancorp, on September 9, 1968.

The central part of the franchise dates from 1864, with the formation of First National Bank of Minneapolis. In 1929, that bank merged with First National Bank of St. Paul (also formed in 1864) and several smaller Upper Midwest banks to form the First Bank Stock Corporation, which changed its name to First Bank System in 1968.

In the eastern part of the franchise, Farmers and Millers Bank in Milwaukee opened its doors in 1853, growing into the First National Bank of Milwaukee and eventually becoming First Wisconsin and ultimately Firstar Corporation. In Cincinnati, First National Bank of Cincinnati opened for business in 1863 under National Charter #24—the charter that U.S. Bancorp still operates under today, and one of the oldest active national bank charters in the nation. Despite having started up in the midst of the Civil War, First National Bank of Cincinnati went on to survive many decades to grow into Star Bank.

U.S. Bancorp of Oregon officially became a banking holding company for the U.S. National Bank of Oregon in January 1969 after receiving authorization from its bank directors on September 9, 1968 and subsequently receiving legal approval to proceed from the Comptroller of the Currency on November 28, 1968. LeRoy B. Staver, president and chief executive officer of the bank, was quickly appointed chairman and chief executive officer for the new holding company while Robert B. Wilson was appointed president of the holding company and also executive vice president for the bank. Wilson later resign as president in December 1972 and his position was filled eight months later by John A. Elornaga.

After a long period of service, Staver finally retired in October 1974 and was succeeded by John Elorriaga who was promoted to chairman and chief executive officer while Carl May was named president in Elorriaga's place.

A major change in the organization of leadership in U.S. Bancorp of Oregon occurred in August 1983. Although Elorriaga remained as chairman and chief executive officer for the firm, May was appointed to the new position of executive assistant to the chairman while Edmund P. Jensen was appointed president as replacement to May, and Roger L. Breezley was appointed to the new post of chief operating officer.

In December 1986, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Forest Grove, Oregon-based Valley National Corporation (not to be confused with Phoenix, Arizona-based company of the same name) with its five-branch Valley National Bank of Forest Grove subsidiary for $13.7 million in stock.

U.S. Bancorp of Oregon made its first acquisition outside the state of Oregon by announcing in December 1986 the pending acquisition of the Spokane, Washington-based Old National Bancorp with its Old National Bank of Washington and First National Bank of Spokane subsidiaries for $174 million. The acquisition was completed in July 1987 on the first day that the state of Washington had allowed bank acquisitions by out-of-state companies.

In December 1986, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Camas, Washington-based Heritage Bank for $2.8 million.

In May 1987, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Seattle, Washington-based Peoples Bancorp with its Peoples National Bank subsidiary for $275 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in December 1987. After the acquisition, Peoples and Old National were combined to form U.S. Bank of Washington.

John Elorriaga retired as chairman of the board and chief executive officer in November 1987 and was replaced by Roger L. Breezley while Jensen continues as president.

In December 1987, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Bellingham, Washington-based Mt Baker Bank for $25 million.

U.S. Bancorp of Oregon entered the state of California by announcing in April 1988 the pending acquisition of the Eureka, California-based Bank of Loleta with seven branch offices in Humboldt and Del Norte counties for $15.3 million in cash. The acquisition was completed in December 1988 and was renamed U.S. Bank of California.

In April 1988, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Bellingham, Washington-based Northwestern Commercial Bank for $15.5 million. The acquisition was completed in November 1988.

In July 1988, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Auburn, Washington-based Western Independent Bancshares with its Auburn Valley Bank subsidiary for $4.25 million in cash.

In October 1989, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Sacramento, California-based Mother Lode Savings Bank with three branch offices for $5.3 million. The acquisition was completed in August 1990. This acquisition was one of the first of a thrift by a commercial bank in the nation since legislation permitting such takeovers went into effect.

During the late 1980s, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon made several attempts to enter the state of Idaho by the acquisition of an existing Idaho-based bank, the only method then allowed under Idaho law, but failed when the price got too high. In March 1990, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced that they would established a bank through a loophole in Federal banking law that allow the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to allow the relocation of bank headquarters within 30 miles of their present location without regards to state boundaries and state regulations. So U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced that they plan to transfer the existing branches of the First National Bank of Spokane to the U.S. Bancorp of Washington and then ask permission from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to move the headquarters of First National from Spokane, Washington, to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. After receiving Federal approval, First National was finally moved in February 1992 and renamed U.S. Bank of Idaho.

In July 1990, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Auburn, California-based HeartFed Financial Corporation with its Heart Federal Savings and Loan subsidiary for $107.8 million in stock. At the time of the announcement, Heart Federal Savings had 29 branch offices in northern California. The acquisition was completed in March 1991 for $118 million.

In November 1991, Edmund P. Jensen was given the post of chief operating officer in addition to his duties as president, making him a possible successor to Breezley.

In February 1992, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the 20 branch offices in Northern California and 29 branch offices in Nevada for $70 million that were being divested by Bankamerica Corporation as a result of Bank of America's impending acquisition of Security Pacific Corporation. This acquisition gave U.S. Bancorp of Oregon its first presence in the state of Nevada.

Another major change in the organization of leadership in U.S. Bancorp of Oregon occurred in January 1993. While retaining his position as chief operating officer, Edmund P. Jensen was appointed vice chairman while giving his position of president to Kevin R. Kelly. At the same time, Gerry B. Cameron was appointed vice chairman. Ten months later, Jensen resigned to become president of Visa International. In January 1994, Gerry Cameron was first appointed chief operating officer as a replacement to Jensen and later appointed chief executive officer just three weeks later. Kelly submitted his resignation as president in March 1994 and Breezley finally gave up the chairmanship to Cameron in April 1994.

In May 1995, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Boise, Idaho-based West One Bancorp for $1.8 billion. At the time of the announcement, West One had branch offices in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Utah while U.S. Bancorp of Oregon had branch offices in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, and Nevada. The acquisition was completed in December 1995 and gave U.S. Bancorp of Oregon its first entry into the state of Utah. As part of the acquisition deal, West One's chairman and chief executive Daniel R. Nelson would become the chief operating officer and president of U.S. Bancorp and he would later be Cameron's successor as chairman and CEO upon Cameron's planned retirement in three years. Since both U.S. Bancorp and West One had overlapping territories in Oregon and Washington, the U.S. Justice Department would only allow the acquisition to proceed if U.S. Bancorp would sell off 27 branch offices in Washington and Oregon. As a result of the regulatory ruling, U.S. Bancorp sold 25 branch offices in Oregon, four in central Washington and one in Idaho to First Hawaiian Bank for $38 million in cash.

In February 1996, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the San Ramon, California-based California Bancshares for $309 million in stock. California Bancshares had a total of 38 branches in the East San Francisco Bay Area in nine separate banks that included Alameda First National, Community First National, Modesto Banking Co., Commercial Bank of Fremont, Lamorinda National Bank, Bank of San Ramon Valley, Westside Bank, Concord Commercial Bank and Bank of Milipitas. The acquisition was completed in June 1996.

In September 1996, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the St. George, Utah-based Sun Capital Bancorp with its three-branch office Sun Capital Bank subsidiary for $15.5 million. The acquisition was completed in January 1997.

In December 1996, Daniel R. Nelson, president and chief operating officer of U.S. Bancorp of Oregon, unexpectedly announced his early retirement effective on New Year’s Day 1997. Nelson was originally in line to be Gerry B. Cameron's successor as chairman and chief executive upon the Cameron's planned retirement on New Year's Day 1999.

In December 1996, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon announced the pending acquisition of the Sacramento, California-based Business & Professional Bank for $35 million in cash. The acquisition was completed in May 1997.

In March 1997, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based First Bank System announced the pending acquisition of the Portland, Oregon-based U.S. Bancorp of Oregon for $9 billion in stock. At the time of the announcement, U.S. Bancorp of Oregon had banking offices in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and Utah while First Bank System had banking offices in Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Wyoming. Under the terms of the acquisition, First Bank System would be renamed U.S. Bancorp with the headquarters for the newly combined company being at First Bank's existing headquarters in Minneapolis. John F. Grundhofer, chairman and chief executive of First Bank, was appointed president and chief executive of the new company while Gerry B. Cameron, chairman and chief executive of U.S. Bancorp of Oregon, was appointed chairman of the new company, which he held until his retirement in 1998. The acquisition was completed in August 1997. Approximately 4000 jobs were eliminated, mostly in Portland.

In September 1997, the new U.S. Bancorp, formerly First Bank System, announced the pending acquisition of the St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Zappco, Inc. with its three banks and six banking locations for an disclosed amount. At the time of the announcement, U.S. Bancorp had more than 1,000 banking offices in the states of Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, California, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Nevada, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Illinois, Utah, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Wyoming. The acquisition was completed in December 1997.

In March 1998, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the Vancouver, Washington-based Northwest Bancshares with its 10-branch offices Northwest National Bank subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. In October 1998, the U.S. Justice Department agreed to allow the acquisition to proceed on the condition that one of the Northwest National Bank branch offices was to be sold. The acquisition was completed in December 1998 after U.S. Bancorp sold the request banking office to Centennial Bank of Eugene.

At the end of 1998, Gerry Cameron retired as chairman and handed the position over to John Grundhofer who added the title of chairman to his other positions of president and chief executive officer.

In February 1999, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the San Diego-based Bank of Commerce with its 10 branch offices for $314 million in stock. The acquisition was finalized in July 1999.

In May 1999, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the Newport Beach, California-based Western Bancorp with its Santa Monica Bank and Southern California Bank subidiaries and a total of 31 branch offices for $904 million in stock. At the time of the announcement, U.S. Bancorp had 98 branch offices within California. The acquisition was finalized in November 1999 for $1.04 billion in stock.

In July 1999, Philip G. Heasley was appointed president and chief operating officer of U.S. Bancorp. John Grundhofer had handed over the position of president to Heasley while still retaining the titles of chairman and chief executive officer. Heasley had assisted Grundhofer in turning the company around from near insolvency when the company was originally known as First Bank until it became a successful financial institution that became large enough to be absorb other banks, including U.S. Bancorp of Oregon in 1997. Heasley resigned the following year to join Bank One as the head of their First USA credit card unit around the same time Firstar was about to takeover U.S. Bancorp.

In September 1999, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the San Diego-based Peninsula Bank with its 11 branch offices for $104 million in stock. In early January 2000, a group of Peninsula Bank stockholders tried to stop the merger because the initial merger agreement was made prior to the huge 27% single-day drop in the value of U.S. Bancorp stock which effectively lowered the purchase price. The acquisition was later completed in January 2000 at a 10% reduction of the original price negotiated.

In June 2000, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the San Diego-based Scripps Financial Corporation with its nine-branch office Scripps Bank subsidiary for $155 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in October 2000.

In October 2000, Firstar Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis, Minnesota for $21 Billion in stock. Firstar completed its buyout of U.S. Bancorp on February 27, 2001 and changed its name to U.S. Bancorp. Under the merger agreement, Jerry Grundhofer, president and chief executive officer of Firstar, would continue in those positions in the combined company while his older brother, John Grundhofer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp, would serve as chairman of the board in the combined company until his planned retirement on December 31, 2002. Though some administrative functions would remain in Milwaukee and Cincinnati, it was decided that the new combined company would be based in Minneapolis and that the new company would use the U.S. Bancorp name.

To allow the merger to proceed, the U.S. Department of Justice required Firstar to sell 11 branch offices in the Minneapolis-area and 2 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Bremer Bank of Saint Paul, Minnesota purchased the 11 Minneapolis-area Firstar offices while Liberty Bank of West Des Moines, Iowa purchased the 2 Council Bluffs offices.

Although the origin of the Milwaukee-based Firstar Corporation can be traced back to the founding of the Farmer's and Millers Bank in Milwaukee in 1853 and the later formation of the First Wisconsin National Bank in 1919, the actual company that took over U.S. Bancorp in 2001 is the actually the same company and leadership that was responsible for the takeover of Firstar 27 months earlier in 1998, namely Star Banc Corporation. That bank, in turn, traced its roots to the founding of First National Bank of Cincinnati in 1863. Jerry Grundhofer and his team from Star Banc were instrumental in both acquisitions.

Present-day U.S. Bancorp retains Star Banc's pre-1998 stock price history, and as mentioned above operates under the charter originally granted to First National Bank of Cincinnati. Additionally, all SEC filings before 1998 are under Star Banc, and all filings from 1998 to 2000 are under Firstar.

In April 2001, the new U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of all 20 branch offices in California of the Encino-based Pacific Century Bank from its Honolulu-based parent Pacific Century Financial Corporation. The acquisition was completed in September 2001.

In July 2002, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of all 57 retail banking branches of the San Mateo, California-based Bay View Bank from its Bay View Capital Corporation parent for $429 million. The acquisition was completed in November 2002.

On New Years Day 2003, John Grundhofer retired as chairman of U.S. Bancorp and handed the position to his younger brother Jerry Grundhofer, who added the title of chairman to his other positions of president and chief executive officer in the corporation.

In May 2004, U.S. Bancorp announced that it was acquiring the $34 billion corporate trust bond administration business from National City Corporation.

In October 2004, Richard K. Davis was appointed chief operating officer and president of U.S. Bancorp. Jerry Grundhofer had handed over the position of president to Davis while still retaining the titles of chairman and chief executive officer. Davis had been a protege of Grundhofer since their days together at Star Banc Corporation and had assisted in the takeover of Firstar by Star Banc in 1998 and the later acquisition of U.S. Bancorp by Firstar in 2001.

In November 2006, U.S. Bancorp announced that it was acquiring the $410 billion corporate trust and institutional custody businesses of Wachovia Corporation for $720 million in cash.

In July 2006, U.S. Bancorp announced that it was acquiring the $123 billion municipal and corporate bond trustee business from SunTrust.

In June 2006, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the Avon, Colorado-based Vail Banks Inc. with its WestStar Bank subsidiary and 23 locations for $98.6 million in cash. The acquisition was completed in September 2006.

In November 2006, U.S. Bancorp announced that it was acquiring the $30 billion municipal bond trustee business from LaSalle Bank.

In November 2006, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the Great Falls, Montana-based United Financial Corporation with its Heritage Bank subsidiary for $71 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in February 2007 and nearly double the branch presence of U.S. Bank in Montana.

In December 2006, Jerry Grundhofer handed over the position of chief executive officer to president Richard Davis while Grundhofer remained chairman until his retirement the following year in December 2007. After Grundhofer retirement in December 2007, Davis added the position of chairman to his other titles of president and chief executive officer.

In March 2008, the U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of the seven-office Los Angeles-based Mellon 1st Business Bank from the Bank of New York Mellon for an disclosed amount in cash. The acquisition was completed in June 2008.

On November 14, 2008, the U.S. Treasury invested $6,599,000,000 in preferred stock and warrants in the company via the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

On November 21, 2008, the company acquired the failed Downey Savings & Loan Association and also the failed Pomona First Federal Bancorp in a transaction facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for an disclosed amount. Downey Savings had 170 branch offices in California and five branch offices in Arizona while PFF Bank had 38 branch offices in Southern California.

In April 2009, U.S. Bancorp acquired the assets and deposits of the failed Ketchum, Idaho-based First Bank of Idaho in a transaction facilitated by the FDIC. First Bank of Idaho had seven offices in Idaho and Wyoming, some of which operated under the name First Bank of the Tetons.

On June 17, 2009, the company redeemed the $6.6 billion of preferred stock and on July 15, 2009, it completed the purchase of a warrant held by the U.S. Treasury Department. This effectively concluded U.S. Bancorp’s participation in the Capital Purchase Program. It was the first bank to repay the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.

On October 5, 2009, the company announced its acquisition of the $8 billion mutual fund administration and accounting servicing division of Fiduciary Management, Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

On October 7, 2009, the company agreed to buy the bond trustee business of First Citizens Bank, a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

On October 20, 2009, the company completed a transaction to purchase the failed FBOP Corporation's nine subsidiary banks from the FDIC for an disclosed amount. The banks included BankUSA, National Association with 2 offices in Arizona, Cal National Bank with 68 offices in California, Citizens National Bank with 1 office in Texas, Community Bank of Lemont with 1 office in Illinois, Madisonville State Bank with 1 office in Texas, North Houston Bank with 1 office in Texas, Pacific National Bank with 17 offices in California, Park National Bank with 31 offices in Illinois, and San Diego National Bank with 28 offices in California.

Since the company did not have a previous presence in Texas nor want one in the near future, the company subsequently sold the three banks in Texas in 2010 to Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares for an disclosed amount. Each of the banks had one office each.

In October 2009, BB&T Corporation announced the pending sale of their Nevada banking operations to U.S. Bancorp for an disclosed amount. BB&T had just recently acquired the 21 offices in Nevada through a transaction facilitated by the FDIC for disposal of the assets and deposits of the failed Alabama-based Colonial BancGroup but BB&T had no desire to expand west of Texas while it wanted to keep the other Colonial former locations in the Southeastern United States. The acquisition was completed in January 2010.

In July 2010, U.S. Bancorp sold its FAF Advisors subsidiary to Nuveen Investments for $80 million and a 9.5% stake in Nuveen.

In January 2011, U.S. Bancorp acquired the assets and deposits of the failed First Community Bank of New Mexico in a transaction facilitated by the FDIC for an asset discount of approximately $380 million. The acquisition had included 35 offices in New Mexico and 3 offices in Arizona.

In January 2012, the company acquired the assets and deposits of the failed Knoxville, Tennessee-based BankEast in a transaction facilitated by the FDIC for an asset discount of approximately $67.5 million. The acquisition had included 10 offices in the Knoxville area.

In March 2013, U.S. Bancorp announced that it was acquiring the $57 billion municipal bond trustee business from Deutsche Bank.

In January 2014, U.S. Bancorp announced the pending acquisition of 94 branch offices of the Charter One Bank in Chicago from the RBS Citizens Financial Group for $315 million, doubling its market share in Chicago. 13 Charter One branches were closed due to their close proximity to existing U.S. Bank offices. The acquisition was completed in June 2014.

In January 2015, chief financial officer Andrew Cecere was promoted to chief operating officer. A year later, Cecere was given the additional position of president.

In January 2017, U.S. Bancorp announced that chairman and CEO Richard Davis was going to hand over his CEO position to president and COO Andrew Cecere in April 2017 while still remaining chairman of the corporation.