History of Frontier Bank

It’s no question that banking and the way people interact with banking institutions have changed A LOT over the years. Everything from the nitty gritty federal regulations, to technology and the way YOU interact with your bank. Frontier Bank has been around since 1932, which means we’ve personally gone through some crazy transformations. When we look back on how banking used to be, we can’t help but be floored by the difference technology and opportunity has made for us.  

Our President, George Schneidermann, has held his position with Frontier Bank since 1977. We had the great opportunity to sit down with President Schneidermann over a cup of coffee to get all the details on some of Frontier Bank’s largest transformations. He reminisced and shared such interesting information that we had to share with you! 

The History of Frontier Bank 

One astounding statistic George shared with us is that community banks are disappearing at an average rate of one bank per day. Big banking has virtually taken over the industry, with the continuous merger or buying out of small community banks. Frontier Bank is proud to be a community bank and finds great joy in giving back to the community. Be it sponsoring little leagues, cooking breakfast for local businesses, or promoting volunteer hours with our staff, the list is nearly endless. We’re so heavily focused on being a community bank that George refers to Frontier Bank as a "throw back" to the way banking used to interact with customers. He mentions that he worries those values may be lost through large-banking practices that are on the rise. 
 
Frontier Bank used to be so small, we were known locally for the IOU pouch. It may seem crazy in today's times that a banker would hand you money and all you had to do was write your name on a piece of paper, but that is just how trusting banks were back then. If you needed to borrow $50 before your paycheck came in, you could walk right into Frontier Bank, get $50 cash and write your name on a piece of paper which was kept in the IOU pouch until it was paid. The crazy thing is, every single loan was paid back. 
 
Something that hasn’t changed over the years is the presence of regulations on interest a bank can offer on checking accounts. This makes account opening incentives a popular practice. These days, opening a BIG DEAL checking account offers incentives like a $100 cash bonus, or a Netflix subscription for one whole year*. If you came to Frontier Bank to open a checking account in the 80’s, you probably would’ve walked away with a free toaster or other household items. Funny how even our personal incentives have changed over the years, too. 
 
Then there are the obvious banking changes with the digital revolution. George remembers writing to the local newspaper that the bank (that he was with at the time) “would never close again” with the installation of its first ATM in 1974. Can you believe prior to that you had to wait for the bank to open to access your money? Now Frontier Bank even offers Interactive Teller Machines. They look like ATMs but you can talk to an actual banker through the machine. We refuse to let machines take over our values of personal banking and the ITM helps with convenience AND relationship banking. 
 
If you told George during the beginning of his banking career that eventually he would be offering the ability to deposit checks just by taking a picture on a cell phone, he would’ve called you crazy. He recalls days of physical paper ledgers and every customer having a folder in a drawer with their balance typed on it. SERIOUSLY. They updated a sheet of paper in a folder every time money was deposited or withdrawn. That system eventually transitioned to a machine that was still very manual by today’s terms. At the end of the banking day, they would collect all the checks and input your account number (which, interestingly, account numbers first became a thing in the 1960s, previously it was all name based) and the amount of money on the check. George even remembers the name of their employee, Margaret, who could input the data so fast she had memorized most customers account numbers! They then took the perforated tape of the totals, inserted it into a reader that would transmit to their main database by telephone line. The next day, they would physically receive printouts from a delivery person of customers balances which would be updated into the customers' folders. Quite the process compared to how you can now hop online via computer or mobile app and see your updated totals and transactions within seconds. 
 
With all the changes technology, regulations and economy has brought to Frontier Bank, George is proud to be President of a bank that keeps up with the trends in technology, yet still holds dear to their customer relationship and community bank values. Stop into our branches to learn about our technology forward services and our over-the-top friendly employees.