No angry lines of customers after bank takeover

PHOENIX - Customers of two banks closed by federal regulators were assured that every penny of their money was protected, preventing lines of angry accountholders from forming Saturday.

The calm response was a stark contrast to the hundreds of angry customers who waited for hours earlier this month in Southern California to demand their money after IndyMac Bank's assets were seized.

The 28 branches of the 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N.A. - owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co. - were closed Friday by the FDIC.

But Mutual of Omaha Bank bought all of the two banks' deposits, even those over the amount protected by FDIC insurance limits. IndyMac customers had to take a loss on whatever amount they had in the bank over the insurance limits.

One 1st National Bank of Nevada in downtown Phoenix didn't even have a note outside to tell customers about the trouble Saturday. But there were no customers outside to tell.

"I feel like the Maytag repairman - there's just not much to do on the customer side of things," Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. spokesman David Barr said. "There's going to be no impact on the depositors whatsoever, except basically a name change," Barr said.

Insurance limits are typically $100,000, but some accounts, such as joint accounts, can have more money protected, Barr said.

On Monday, Mutual of Omaha will open the banks as its own branches, Barr said. During the weekend, accountholders can access their funds by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.

Jeff Schmid, chairman and CEO of Mutual of Omaha Bank, said the acquisition of the new accounts aligns with the company's growth strategy to get aggressive with banking.

"We're very optimistic about these markets," said Schmid, who was in Scottsdale on Saturday to speak with his new employees. "This could be our finest hour."

Mutual of Omaha Bank has $800 million in assets and operates 14 retail branches in Nebraska and Colorado. It's a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha, a 99-year-old insurance and financial services company with more than $19 billion in total assets.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a news release that 1st National was undercapitalized and had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings "due to unsafe and unsound practices."

Those practices "also weakened the bank's condition and seriously prejudiced the interests of the bank's depositors and the deposit insurance fund."

Another news release said First Heritage was critically undercapitalized and was likely to incur losses that would deplete all or nearly all of its capital.

As of June 30, the closed banks had total assets of $3.6 billion. That's down from $4.1 billion six months earlier. Most of the assets are in 1st National, while First Heritage N.A. accounts for $254 million.

The FDIC said the takeover of the failed banks was the least costly resolution.

Calls to 1st National executive vice president Joe Martony were not returned Saturday. No one could be reached at the First Heritage Bank N.A.

1st National has 10 branches in Nevada and 15 branches in Arizona. First Heritage N.A. has three branches in Southern California.