Mt.McKinley Bank - About Us

Mt. McKinley Bank was formed as a Mutual Savings Bank on December 3^rd, 1965. The goal of our bank was to encourage financial growth through savings and thrift. In addition, we wanted to provide a local alternative for those residents seeking home mortgages. Startup capital for the bank consisted of $357,000 in debentures that were issued rather than common stock. Those debentures were repaid to the investors and to this day we are a “mutual” institution.

In our early years, banking operations were considerably smaller than they are today. The original office was just a small part of the main building that is located at 530 Fourth Avenue in downtown Fairbanks. Our vault was a tiny Victor Screwdoor cannonball safe. Manufactured in 1895, the safe was only the 4^th or 5^th cast out of magnesium steel. It weighs 3600 pounds (or 2 tons) and was considered one of the most impregnable safes of its time. Used in our daily operations from 1965 until March of 1972, the safe is now on display just inside the Third Avenue entrance of our main office. Another point of interest is that Mt. McKinley Bank survived the Fairbanks flood of 1967. The high water level marker can be seen in the main office facility.

Mt. McKinley Bank’s first President and CEO was former US District Court Judge Vernon D. Forbes. Mr. Forbes remained with Mt. McKinley Bank until his retirement in 1975. In addition to Judge Forbes, Mt. McKinley Bank has had three other Presidents and CEOs. Kenneth G. Thompson served from 1975 until 1989 and William K. Simon served from 1989 until 1995. Our current President and CEO, Craig J. Ingham, has been a bank employee for over 25 years and was promoted to his position in 1995.

Growth and a desire to better serve our customers require space. As a result in 1971 building expansion began to our main office which is still located today in that same building on Fourth Avenue. In 1991 Mt. McKinley Bank added a branch location at the corner of University Avenue and Airport Way providing convenience and allowing us to offer additional services not offered at our Downtown location. Those services include safe deposit boxes and drive-up lanes. To further provide quality banking services to the Greater Fairbanks area, a second branch location was built in 2002. Located on St. Nicholas Drive in the heart of North Pole, our third branch provides full-banking services including lending, safe deposit boxes, drive-up lanes as well as an ATM. Mt. McKinley Bank has continued its expansion with a third branch in Delta Junction which opened in the fall of 2004 and a fourth branch location which opened in northeast Fairbanks in the spring of 2006. Each and every location provides outstanding products and services.

Over the years Mt. McKinley Bank has grown to provide a wide array of financial services beyond home loans and savings accounts. In August of 2000 we entered into full service banking and once again Mt. McKinley Bank found it necessary to provide an alternative banking option to the community: Commercial Banking. We felt it was paramount that local businesses be able to find other commercial banking solutions here in Fairbanks, and that they would find them with Mt. McKinley Bank. Now our services include individual and business checking accounts, personal and business savings accounts and certificates of deposit, all types of commercial and consumer loans, safe deposit boxes, contract collection services, IRAs, Internet Banking and Bill Pay, four ATM machines and much more on the way.

Mt. McKinley Bank currently employs approximately 70 dedicated employees and is heavily involved in various community projects and events. The bank supports many non-profit agencies both financially and through the volunteering of time by our officers, staff and trustees.

Our assets as of December 31, 2003 were approximately $198 million with $33.7 million in capital. Since the bank’s first year of operation, we have been able to show strong positive earnings every single year, through both good times and bad. Below is a summary of our growth in assets:

12/31/1965 - Assets total: $684,661

12/31/1970 - Assets total: $15,349,597

12/31/1973 - Assets total: $25,000,000

12/31/1975 - Assets total: $39,267,868

12/31/1985 - Assets total: $102,220,355

12/31/1990 - Assets total: $101,917,327

12/31/1995 - Assets total: $128,875,248

12/31/2000 – Assets total: $169,938,770

Current Assets

Mt. McKinley Bank is the oldest and largest local financial institution in Fairbanks and interior Alaska’s primary mortgage lender. For nearly 40 years we have provided millions of dollars in residential mortgage financing offering in-house loans and local servicing in our effort to provide the best possible customer service. Today, our goals as a mutual bank are the same as they were in 1965: to pay our customers the highest possible return on their deposit investments and to provide lending and banking services at the lowest possible cost.