Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Oregon › Northern Bank of Commerce
What happened to Northern Bank of Commerce?
Northern Bank of Commerce in Portland, OR merged into The Cowlitz Bank of Longview, WA on Jul 3, 2000. After 1 more change of hands, what was Northern Bank of Commerce is today part of Heritage Bank (Olympia, WA).
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.
- 1994Northern Bank of Commerce opens in Portland, OR
- Jul 3, 2000MERGEDNorthern Bank of Commerce merged into The Cowlitz Bank of Longview, WA.FDIC certificate 33944 ends; its business continues under certificate 22643.
- Jul 30, 2010FAILEDThe Cowlitz Bank of Longview, WA failed, and Heritage Bank of Olympia, WA took it over.FDIC certificate 22643 ends; its business continues under certificate 29012.
- TodayOPEN
Heritage BankMain office Olympia, WA · FDIC certificate 29012 · 67 offices in 3 states on June 30, 2026Every Heritage Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.heritagebanknw.com
If you still have something from Northern Bank of Commerce
A lien that was never released
The Cowlitz Bank failed on Jul 30, 2010. For a failed bank placed in FDIC receivership, the FDIC may be able to issue the lien release, if the loan was paid off to the bank before it failed or to the FDIC afterward. The FDIC says that where a failed bank had an acquirer, its records in most cases went to that acquirer. Here the chain from the acquirer leads to Heritage Bank, which is worth asking too.
Requests go through the FDIC Information and Support Center with the recorded mortgage or title, and proof of payoff. The FDIC says to allow 30 business days once it has every document, and does not take requests by phone or email. Questions: FDIC Resolution Inquiries, 888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central on weekdays.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, Heritage Bank). Start with Heritage Bank, and ask them to search under the name Northern Bank of Commerce.
For failures since mid-1993 the law sets a clock: insured deposits not claimed within 18 months of the FDIC starting to pay depositors are offered to the state of the depositor's last known address on the bank's records. If the state takes them, the owner has 10 years to claim there before the money returns to the FDIC. Check FDIC unclaimed funds search and that state's unclaimed-property program.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask Heritage Bank. A box abandoned for years may have been 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
9 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 1 is still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 1000 Sw Broadway, Ste 2170Portland, OR | OpenHeritage Bank |
| 2895 East Powell Valley RoadGresham, OR | No longer reported |
| 3141 Northeast 148th AvenuePortland, OR | No longer reported |
| 12900 S.W. 9th StreetBeaverton, OR | No longer reported |
| 5450 S.W. Erickson AvenueBeaverton, OR | No longer reported |
| 32200 Sw French Prairie RdWilsonville, OR | No longer reported |
| 3800 S.W. Carman DriveLake Oswego, OR | No longer reported |
| 4017 South East Vineyard PlaceMilwaukie, OR | No longer reported |
| 5555 Southeast King RoadMilwaukie, OR | 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 33944 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.