Established in 1899

First Commercial Bank is the outgrowth of merger of the Savings Bank of Taiwan (established in 1899), Chia-I Bank (established in 1905), The Commercial and Industrial Bank of Taiwan (established in 1910), and Hsin-Kao Bank (established in 1916). Of these four banks, the Savings Bank of Taiwan and The Commercial and Industrial Bank of Taiwan were previously jointly owned by Chinese and Japanese, while Chia-I Bank and Hsin-Kao Bank were originally owned entirely by Chinese in Taiwan. The Japanese eventually controlled the managements, and the amalgamation took place in its final form in 1923.

Renamed as First Commercial Bank of Taiwan in 1949

After Taiwan was restored to the Republic of China in 1945, the Bank was taken over from the Japanese. Though facing many new problems, it continued its operations and steady growth. In 1949, the Bank was renamed the First Commercial Bank of Taiwan. It has continued to expand on a broad scale under the guidance of the Government and the Board of Directors and with the assistance of the dedicated staff, and above all, the unceasing patronage of the customers. The rate of progress has steadily risen in the last decade as Taiwan trade volume accelerated. For Simplification and internationalization, the name was shorten to first Commercial Bank in 1976.

Foreign Exchange Business Started in 1967

In 1967, the Bank obtained its foreign exchange business license and became one of the major foreign exchange banks in Taiwan. In order to provide more efficient services to our customers, the Bank installed on-line system in 1978 and joined the SWIFT in 1985. The bank offers the business service areas of export, import, remittance, foreign currency deposits, and margin trading, etc.

As of June 2002, the Bank has already had 10 overseas branches located in London, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Guam, Singapore, Palau and Phnom Penh, 2 representative offices in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City as well as a wholly-owned subsidiary named First Commercial Bank (USA) located in Alhambra, California and its three branches (City of Industry Branch, Silicon Valley Branch and Irvine Branch).
The Bank has established a correspondent network with more than 1,600 major banks all over the world. This extensive business network at home and abroad has facilitated the Bank to offer worldwide services to customers.

Partially Privatized in 1998

In January 1998, Taiwan Provincial Government released part of its ownership and reduced the total government-owned shares of this bank to 39.36 %, First Commercial Bank therefore completed its privatization process at that time and became the largest private commercial bank in Taiwan. Following the privatization, the Bank has more autonomy to make reinvestment decisions. In order to provide more services to meet the customer's needs, the Bank is making efforts to diversify its products by setting up subsidiaries, such as FCB Leasing Co. and FCB Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. expecting to develop into a large financial group.

Strategy and Goals

For years "Customer First, Service Foremost" has been the Bank's motto strictly observed by all staff members. With this guideline in mind, the Bank has rendered extensive services with personal touch to industrial and commercial enterprises.

Through the process of careful planning, implementation, and evaluation, the Bank has improved its operations by leaps and bounds from time to time. As a result of every effort made, volume of business has been increased rapidly, and the Bank has made significant contributions to the development of national economy.

As a profit-driven institution, portfolio diversification and searching for the best market niche, under sound risk control, will be our main tasks and emphasis. The Bank not only keep pace with economic development and market trends in the future, but also change our banking strategy to respond to new development while maintaining a forward looking analysis.