Deep roots and more than a century of financial service

A general store in Brookings, SD in 1880 might seem like an unlikely time and place for the birth of what eventually became one of South Dakota's largest companies.

Until you consider the man who started it all was driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit of community service that still guides Fishback Financial today.

In 1880, Horace Fishback Sr. recognized that his growing community needed more banking services. So he and his uncle, Bert Olds, began helping customers at the back counter of their store.

The present First Bank & Trust (then known as Security National Bank) opened November 2, 1925 amid less-than-ideal business conditions. But three succeeding generations of the Fishback family used the same wisdom that guided Horace — meet the local community's needs with integrity and innovation — to lead First Bank & Trust and a growing list of sister financial institutions through decades of good and bad economic times.

Our founding philosophy is why we continue to empower individual Fishback Financial institutions to make independent decisions and develop products and services that meet their customers' unique needs.

Today Fishback Financial Corporation is led by Horace's grandsons — Chairman of the Board, Bob Fishback and President, Van Fishback. Even as mergers and acquisitions sweep the banking world, we remain a family-owned, independent community bank focused on serving our communities. It's the same spirit that customers found at the back of the Brookings general store over 128 years ago.