Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company is the oldest, continuously operating and minority-owned bank in the nation and the first minority-owned bank in Tennessee. It began operating in 1904 through the vision of three prominent Nashvillians: R. H. Boyd, Preston Taylor, and J.C. Napier.
A survivor of many years of turbulence, its success is a rich testimony of the vision, dedication, and uncompromising commitment to providing superior and competitive products and services. The bank takes pride in its longevity, accomplishments, ideology, and future aspirations. The focus of its corporate existence is based on socially conscious ideals.
The Directors, management, and staff of the bank strive to maintain the tradition of providing quality services through innovative methods. As a community-minded bank, the focus is on offering products and services that enable customers to fulfill their personal dreams and grow their businesses. Today, the bank is a sound financial institution that has become an integral part of its communities.
Brief History of Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company
In 1904, the One Cent Savings Bank, now Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, became the first minority-owned bank in Tennessee. Only one other bank, a branch of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company Bank (1865) based in Washington, D.C., had been operated for the African-American community in Nashville since the Civil War.
Now the oldest, continuously operating, minority- owned bank in the United States, Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company was founded by distinguished community leaders, including R. H. Boyd, the Reverend Preston Taylor, J. B. Bosley, E. B. Jefferson, J. S. Ewing, J. A. Cullom, the Reverend William Haynes, and J. W. Grant. It was determined that charter members would include those who contributed at least $100 to the capital stock. Each of the nine men in attendance pledged the $100. With that meeting the One Cents Savings Bank and Trust Company was born. The bank opened on January 16, 1904. Its first home was donated space in Napier’s law office. Although the bank’s name suggested that an account could be opened with one cent, ten cents was the minimum deposit accepted.
In 1922, Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company relocated to the former Duncan Hotel, home of the Colored YMCA and other African-American Owned agencies. When other local banks failed during the Great Depression, Citizens Bank survived through conservative lending policies and by encouraging systematic savings.
