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Eighty years ago today, on Nov 12, 1946, a bank in downtown Chicago did something a little strange. It let people bank from their cars.
The Exchange National Bank of Chicago sat at 130 South LaSalle Street. That day it opened something it named the Autobank. Drivers pulled up beside one of 10 teller windows and never left their seats. No hunting for a parking spot. No walk through a Chicago November with your paycheck in your pocket.
The setup was simple and a little like a fort. Each teller sat behind bulletproof glass, extra-thick glass made to stop a bullet. Between the car and the teller was a drawer. It slid out to the driver, took the deposit, and slid back in.
Not the first window, but a bigger idea
Chicago was not the first bank to pass money out a window. Smaller drive-up windows had popped up at other banks before. The Chicago bank went bigger, with 10 drive-up windows in one place.
The idea caught on
Drivers liked it. Before long, banks around the country were adding drive-up windows of their own. Burgers, movies, and banks were all starting to meet people in their cars.
Over the years, some tellers added a perk nobody planned in 1946. A photo from around 1969 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, shows a woman and two kids at a bank drive-up window, while the teller hands a treat to the family dog. The dog did not have an account. The dog did not care.
In 1989, the Chicago bank agreed to merge with LaSalle National Bank. Bank of America bought LaSalle in 2007.
On opening day, the first person to make a deposit from his car was Edwin B. Mayer, from a Chicago law firm. Years before, his grandfather Leopold Mayer had lived in a house right there on LaSalle Street. The front door was long gone. In its place was a window with a drawer. A grandson drove up to the spot where his family's home once stood, and the drawer slid out to meet him.
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References
- Source: Chicago Tribune, Kori Rumore, "Today in Chicago History: First drive-in bank in the United States opens on LaSalle Street," Nov 12, 2025, via Yahoo News (Nov 12, 1946; Exchange National Bank of Chicago, 130 S. LaSalle St.; called itself the "most modern bank in the world"; first "pill boxes" in the U.S.; customers drove into the building; 10 teller windows; bulletproof glass; automatic slide-out drawers; first deposit by E.B. Mayer, whose grandfather formerly lived at the site; acquired by LaSalle National Bank 1989; LaSalle acquired by Bank of America 2007)
- Source: Transportation History, "1946: The Debut of an Innovative Drive-Through Banking Service in Chicago," Nov 12, 2025 (Autobank at 130 South La Salle; 10 windows; bullet-proof glass; slide-out drawers; first customer Edwin B. Mayer of Mayer, Altheimer & Kabaker; grandfather Leopold Mayer's house once on the site; earlier drive-up windows such as South Bend in 1936; drive-up banking spread; circa-1969 Coral Ridge National Bank dog-treat photo)
- Source: The Mountain Eagle, "Drive-up banking debuted this week in 1946," Nov 12, 2014 (Nov 12, 1946; Exchange National Bank of Chicago; 10 teller windows; bulletproof glass; sliding drawers)
- Source: Hagerty Media, "The first drive-thru banking window was introduced 75 years ago ... or was it?" (Nov 12, 1946; Exchange National Bank of Chicago; bulletproof glass; sliding drawer; earlier Dallas claim)
- Source: The New York Times, "Company Briefs," Sept 26, 1989 (Exchange Bancorp signs definitive agreement to merge with LaSalle National Corp.)
- Source: State Library and Archives of Florida via Wikimedia Commons, Roy Erickson, "Dog receiving a treat at the Coral Ridge National Bank drive thru window, Fort Lauderdale, Florida," circa 1969 (public domain photo)
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