Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name.
History
Early formation The earliest roots of the company are with the Northwestern National Bank established in Minneapolis in 1872. Early Minneapolis business and political leaders Dorilus Morrison and Henry T. Welles were the bank's first two presidents. Initially the bank was heavily supported by the Northern Pacific Railroad, but as the city and region grew the bank's deposits and assets grew in kind. Between 1872 and 1892 the bank's deposits increased from $50,000 to $3 million. Between 1892 and 1902 deposits more than tripled to more than $10 million.
Great Depression and Banco During the generally prosperous 1920s, the nation's agricultural sector did not share in the good times. Many smaller banks that had overextended credit to farmers ran into serious trouble. In the Upper Midwest alone, 1,500 banks became insolvent from 1920 to 1929. It was with this backdrop that in early 1929, just months before the stock market crash, two banking associations were formed in the Twin Cities of Minnesota: Northwest Bancorporation and the First Bank Stock Corporation (later known as First Bank System and then U.S. Bancorp). Northwest, known more simply as "Banco", was a banking cooperative anchored by Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis. Banco acquired stock in the affiliated banks and served as a mutual protection association. Another 90 banks joined Banco in its first year of operation, and by 1932 there were 139 affiliates. During the Great Depression, numerous additional banks failed. In 1932, 700 Upper Midwestern banks failed. None of the Banco members went under – and no depositor lost any savings – because the group was able to move liquidity around the system and in some cases, inject new capital into troubled banks. The number of members did decline, however, as some units in the group merged while others were sold off. Membership fell to 83 by 1940, then to 70 by 1952. One of Banco's strategic advantages in the long run was its ability to operate in multiple states. The McFadden Act of 1927 had prohibited banks from operating branches across state lines. Banco was one of three major banks (the others being First Bank System and First Interstate Bancorp) that was allowed to conduct interstate banking under a grandfather clause in the 1927 act. This advantage was tempered somewhat by the emergence of bank holding companies in the late 1960s, but under the holding company arrangement, a subsidiary bank in one state was a separate entity from a subsidiary bank in another state.
1970s Prior to the 1970s, Banco's affiliated members were largely autonomous. But during that decade, Banco began adopting a more unified structure in terms of systemwide planning, marketing, data processing, funds management, and loan syndication. By the end of the decade, Banco consisted of 85 affiliates in seven states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana. Total assets had reached $11 billion, ranking Banco as the 20th largest banking company in the United States. Banco was also active on the international banking scene through its lead bank, Northwestern National, which controlled Canadian American Bank, a merchant bank with offices in Winnipeg, London, Nassau, and Luxembourg.
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