Is Wells Fargo the first bank?

Written by Editorial Team | Last Updated: August 2026

Wells Fargo is not the oldest or first bank established in the United States, as several historical financial institutions preceded it by decades. While Wells Fargo boasts a legendary heritage dating back to the mid-nineteenth-century American frontier era when it was founded in 1852 to provide express delivery and banking services, earlier colonial and early national institutions—such as the Bank of New York founded by Alexander Hamilton—were established much earlier in American history.

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