Great Western Bank (South Dakota)
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking |
| Predecessor | Farmers and Merchants Bank |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Defunct | 2022 |
| Fate | Merged with First Interstate BancSystem |
| Headquarters | Sioux Falls , United States |
Area served | Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota |
| Parent | Great Western Bancorp, Inc. |
Great Western Bank, a regional financial institution managed by its parent company Great Western Bancorp, Inc. (), was headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The bank operated more than 170 branches spanning Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In September 2021, it revealed plans to merge with First Interstate BancSystem, a transaction finalized in February 2022. At the time of the merger, Great Western Bank's assets totaled $12.39 billion.
History
The origins of Great Western Bank trace back to 1935 when it was founded as Farmers and Merchants Bank in Watertown, South Dakota. The institution rebranded to Great Western Bank in 2003. In 2008, it became part of National Australia Bank (NAB), which later began divesting through an initial public offering in October 2014 and fully exited its holdings by July 2015.
In 2010, Great Western expanded by acquiring TierOne Bank, a failed bank based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Further growth occurred in November 2015 with the acquisition of HF Financial Corp., the parent company of Home Federal Bank located in Sioux Falls.
The merger agreement reached in 2021 with Montana-based First Interstate BancSystem resulted in Great Western becoming an operating division within First Interstate Bank upon the deal’s completion on February 1, 2022. By May 23, 2022, former Great Western locations had adopted the First Interstate brand.