Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › New Jersey › First State Bank
What happened to First State Bank?
First State Bank in Howell, NJ (earlier called Howell State Bank) merged into Staten Island Savings Bank of Staten Island, NY on Jan 15, 2000. After 2 more changes of hands, what was First State Bank is today part of Santander Bank, N.A. (Wilmington, DE).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1974Howell State Bank opens in Howell, NJ
- Oct 15, 1985renamed First State Bank
- Jan 15, 2000MERGEDFirst State Bank merged into Staten Island Savings Bank of Staten Island, NY.FDIC certificate 21753 ends; its business continues under certificate 15986.
- Apr 12, 2004MERGEDStaten Island Savings Bank (by then renamed SI Bank & Trust) of Staten Island, NY merged into Independence Community Bank of Brooklyn, NY.FDIC certificate 15986 ends; its business continues under certificate 16018.
- Sep 9, 2006MERGEDIndependence Community Bank of Brooklyn, NY merged into Sovereign Bank of Wilmington, DE.FDIC certificate 16018 ends; its business continues under certificate 29950.
- TodayOPEN
Santander Bank, N.A.Main office Wilmington, DE · FDIC certificate 29950 · 368 offices in 9 states on June 30, 2026Every Santander Bank, N.A. office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.santander.com
If you still have something from First State Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows First State Bank as lienholder, start with Santander Bank, N.A.. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. to search for the account under the name First State Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. which branch now holds boxes from the First State Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
6 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 3 are still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 555 Madison AveLakewood, NJ | OpenSantander Bank, N.A. |
| 4261 Route 9 NHowell, NJ | OpenSantander Bank, N.A. |
| 2367 Lakewood RdToms River, NJ | OpenSantander Bank, N.A. |
| 120 Jack Martin BlvdBrick, NJ | No longer reported |
| 2100 Hooper AvenueToms River, NJ | No longer reported |
| 342 Route 9 NorthEnglishtown, NJ | No longer reported |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 21753 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.