Centier Bank

Centier Bank
Centier Bank headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana
Formerly	Bank of Whiting (1895–1960) First Bank of Whiting (1960–1999)
Type	Private
Industry	Banking
Founded	April 21, 1895; 131 years ago (1895-04-21) Whiting, Indiana, United States of America
Founder	Henry Schrage, Sr.
Headquarters	600 East 84th Avenue, Merrillville, Indiana , United States of America
Number of locations	61 (branches) 68 (ATMs) (2026)
Area served	Northern and central Indiana
Net income	$1.56 million (2025, consolidated)
Total assets	$9.74 billion (2025, consolidated)
Total equity	$9.86 million (2025, consolidated)
Owner	Schrage Family
Number of employees	1,000+
Parent	First Bancshares, Inc.
Subsidiaries	Centier Nevada 2, LLC Centier Investments Nevada 2, Inc. Centier Holdings Nevada 2, Inc.
Capital ratio	10.5%
Rating	A (Edgar-Jones)
Website	www.centier.com

Centier Bank is a community bank, headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana. Centier was originally founded in Whiting, Indiana as The Bank of Whiting on April 21, 1895, by Henry Schrage Sr. The company operates 61 branches and 68 ATMs across northern and central Indiana.

History

Centier Bank was opened as the Bank of Whiting by Henry Schrage, Sr. on April 21, 1895 at 1738 119th Street, Whiting, Indiana with $35,000 in capital and $5,600 in deposits. The bank moved to its current location at 1500 119th Street in 1910. By 1917, Henry Sr. had stepped back but remained active as a chairman; his son, Walter Schrage, Sr., had taken over the bank presidency. When Henry Sr. died in 1932, Walter, who was still bank president, took on the chairman position until his own death in 1940. As a result, Walter’s son, Walter “Wally” Schrage, Jr., became president of the bank.

In 1960, the bank changed their name to First Bank of Whiting to differentiate between it and the State Bank of Whiting that opened in 1931. The first branch location opened in Highland, Indiana in 1963. Wally’s son, Michael “Mike” Schrage, had joined the bank after convincing his father to open another location. Following Mike’s onboarding, the second branch was opened Dyer, Indiana in 1973. The bank continued to expand by opening the Schererville branch in 1975 and the Griffith branch in 1976. First Bank of Whiting created their trust department in 1975. By 1976, the bank dropped “of Whiting” from its name as its operations had moved into other communities. In 1977, Mike became president, while Wally remained active as chairman. In 1980, Mike formed a holding company, First Bancshares, Inc., to allow further locations to open. In 1982, Mike had acquired First National Bank in Crown Point and Southlake National Bank in Lowell.

In 1984, First Bank was under threat of closure after a senior lender in Chicago had purposefully taken out bad loans to set the bank up for purchase. The bank decided to raise all interest rates and reduce deposit fees; shareholders and the FDIC agreed to this, and the bank ultimately survived after many concerned shareholders had sold back their shares.

In 1991, First Bank changed their name to Centier Bank to grow their marketing, represent their then-upcoming centennial anniversary, and to represent their customer centered vision. Following the change in branding and recovery from the Chicago loans, Centier began to expand once again. The first locations in Porter County opened in Valparaiso in 1988 and 1989, and two Chesterton branches were acquired in 1992. In 1991, Centier began to open in-store locations. In 1999, Centier launched the “Not for Sale” motto as mergers began buying up local community banks.

Controversies

In October 2006, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit alleging that Centier Bank had violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by failing provide services to communities with a mostly African American and/or Hispanic population, an act known as redlining. On October 16, 2006, both parties and the court reached a settlement, under which Centier agreed to open new branches in Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond, Indiana. Centier also agreed to direct funds toward special financing programs and consumer financial education for consumers in those branch areas. In January 2010, both parties and the court agreed to amend the 2006 order, allowing Centier to close the operating Hammond branch location to open a full-service stand-alone Hammond location by April 2011.

Awards and recognitions

In 2007, Centier Bank began participating in the Best Places to Work program organized by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Centier ranked number one in 2010 and had ranked every year for thirteen years; Centier achieved Best Places to Work Hall of Fame status as a result in 2019. In 2014, American Banker ranked Centier as the 17th best bank to work for in the country; that ranking rose to number six in 2019. In 2018, Forbes created the Best In-State Banks list for each state, which Centier was among the top five in Indiana, and in 2019, Centier had topped that list. In 2025, J.D. Power ranked Centier number one in customer satisfaction among retail banks in its North Central region. In 2026, Centier Bank won the IBA Commitment to Community Award in the large banks category.

In 2019, Culver Academy broke ground for the Schrage Leadership Center, which has classrooms, meeting spaces, and an auditorium.

References

This United States bank–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

• v
• t
• e