Present

Its main headquarters are located in the San Juan Hato Rey business district, on the avenue more commonly known as La Milla de Oro ("The Golden Mile") because of the abundance of several other bank headquarters located there. Travellers who fly into the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport can observe Banco Popular's main building.

Popular is currently the largest bank in Puerto Rico, the largest company (public or private) in Puerto Rico, and the largest Hispanic bank in the United States. It is classified as one of the top 100 banks nationwide. Its subsidiaries are also considered top-rated, with a customer base that grows each year.

Recently, Popular updated its web site to be more user-friendly, with services such as SMS warnings for account balances (both from Popular and other banks), online payments for their products, other companies, and the state government (including credit cards with other banks, water utility bills, electricity bills, among others), credit card forms, and more. Banco Popular also released its new ad campaign: "En Mi Banco Se Puede" ("In my bank it's possible"), along with a series of aggressive ads targeting non-customers, consumers that have left the bank, or current customers who are starting to consider leaving the bank.

Stats

Ranked the 784th Largest Company In The World by Forbes (2006).

Ranked the 84th Best Company to Work For by Fortune Magazine (2005).

Has over $45 billion in assets.

Approx. 13,000 employees.

Symbol: BPOP (Nasdaq)

Timeline

1893: A group of local Puerto Rican and Spanish notables founded the Sociedad Anónima de Economías y Préstamos (later Banco Popular de Economías y Préstamos) on 5 October 1893. The founders wanted to create a thrift institution for the island's poor to encourage savings.

1928: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer personal loans without collateral.

1930: Popular acquired the Banco Comercial de Puerto Rico. This bank had begun in 1857 as Banco Español de Puerto Rico and changed its name to Banco de Puerto Rico in 1900. Then in 1913 it changed its name to Banco Comercial de Puerto Rico.

1938: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer an FHA mortgage loan.

1950: Popular becomes the largest bank in Puerto Rico.

1961: Popular opened a branch in New York City (Bronx) to serve the Puerto Rican community there.

1973: First bank in Puerto Rico to offer combined accounts.

1975: Popular opened a branch in Los Angeles. Although US banks could not branch across state lines, non-US banks could. The California State Superintendent of Banking declared Puerto Rico "international", allowing Popular to open a branch in reciprocity for the branch Bank of America had opened in Puerto Rico.

1981: Popular started to expand in the Caribbean by establishing a branch in the U.S. Virgin Islands and another in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

1984: Popular took over the failed Washington National Bank, a locally-owned bank catering to the Hispanic community in Chicago. Popular also launched the first automated teller machine network in the island.

1988: Popular is the first bank in Puerto Rico to offer phone-banking.

1990: Popular merged with Banco de Ponce to create the largest bank in Puerto Rico. The holding company took the name BanPonce. (Banco de Ponce had established an agency in New York that it had converted to a branch in 1961. At the time of the merger, Banco de Ponce had nine branches in New York to Popular's six.)

1991: Popular acquired the deposits and one branch of New York Capital Bank in upper Manhattan, an unsuccessful attempt to revive the failed Capital National Bank, which had served most of the Dominican small businesses there.

1992: Popular acquired seven branches from the failed American Savings Bank, four branches and their deposits from Bank Leumi Trust Company, and one branch and its deposits from Northside Savings Bank.

1993: Popular became the largest bank in the Virgin Islands when it acquired CoreStates First Pennsylvania Bank's five branches there. Century Anniversary.

1994: Popular bought Pioneer Bank in Chicago and merged it with Popular's existing operations. Popular also entered New Jersey by buying four branches from the failed Carteret Savings Bank failed. It then opened two more branches, to form Banco Popular FSB (a federal savings association).

1995: Popular established the ATH Dominicana ATM network in the Dominican Republic. (ATH stands for "A Toda Hora". i.e., "at all hours".)