The $98 million community bank near the Ohio–Michigan line says the new name reflects its roots in northwest Ohio while signaling ambitions beyond a single village.

For more than eight decades, Metamora State Bank has carried the name of the small Ohio village where it opened its doors in 1944. This week, the $98 million-asset community bank announced a change meant to honor that history while widening its sense of place: it will now be known as Bank 419.

The new name, unveiled in a Facebook video by Kathleen Fischer, the bank’s president and chief executive, is a direct reference to the area code that defines much of northwest Ohio. The rebrand comes as the bank, which has four branches pressed up against the Michigan border, seeks to reflect a footprint that extends beyond Metamora and into surrounding communities in Ohio and southeast Michigan.

“Our bank opened our doors July 1st, 1944 in Metamora, Ohio,” Fischer said in the video. “As we continue to grow and serve more people in more communities, we felt this was the right time to make a change.”

Metamora State Bank, now Bank 419, employs 24 people and earned $356,000 in the first three quarters of 2025, according to regulatory data. Though modest in size, it occupies a competitive corridor near the Ohio-Michigan state line, where community banks often emphasize personal relationships as a counterweight to larger regional and national lenders.

In announcing the new identity, Ms. Fischer emphasized continuity as much as change. “Here’s what hasn’t changed,” she said. “For eight decades, we’ve been there for the moment that matters. First mortgages, CD deposits, business launches, and retirements.”

Story continued below…

She underscored that the bank remains locally owned and locally operated, with decisions made in northwest Ohio rather than at a distant headquarters. “No corporate headquarters elsewhere. No Wall Street Journal investors. Just neighbors serving neighbors,” she said.

What is changing, she added, is a name meant to travel more easily than that of a single town. “We needed a name to reflect our commitment to all of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan,” Ms. Fischer said. “We needed a name that would grow with us while keeping us grounded in what matters most.”

The new brand arrives with a new motto — “Live. Grow. Bank.” — which Ms. Fischer described as a promise to help families and businesses “live fully, grow confidently, and think locally.”

In the video, she framed the change as the latest chapter in a long story rather than a break from it. Eighty years ago, she said, local leaders opened a small bank because they believed the community deserved personal relationships and local decision-making. “That vision hasn’t changed,” she said. “It’s just getting a new name.”

Bank 419 is owned by a one-bank holding company known as Metamora Bancorp, Inc., formed in 1985 to ensure its continued operation as a community bank. 

“As we continue to grow and serve more people in more communities, we felt this was the right time to make a change.”

– Kathleen Fischer
President & CEO
Bank 419