November 12, 1946
In yet another example of the ever-increasing prevalence and use of automobiles in everyday life, the first comprehensive drive-through operations in the United States for bank customers made its debut in Chicago.
The Exchange National Bank of Chicago introduced this service, which was called the Autobank, at its location at 130 South La Salle Street in the Windy City. Motorists who needed to take care of their money matters with that bank were now able to drive directly to one of 10 windows where tellers sat behind bullet-proof glass and used slide-out drawers for handling transactions.
The first customer to drive up to one of the Autobank’s windows on opening day was Edwin B. Mayer (1888-1947) of the law firm Mayer, Altheimer & Kabaker. His grandfather Leopold Mayer (1827-1903) lived in a house that once existed at that site.
This transportation-oriented innovation in banking — one that reflected similarly convenient drive-in services for everything from movie theaters to fast-food restaurants — would become increasingly popular with consumers who liked the idea that they did not have to get out of their automobiles to handle financial transactions.
The Exchange National Bank of Chicago was not the first institution to introduce drive-through banking to the public, however. In 1936, for example, the City National Bank of South Bend, Indiana, set up a teller’s wicket facing an adjacent alley for any customers preferring curbside transactions to going into the building.
This arrangement was characterized in a Newsweek magazine article in 1948 as a “casual improvisation,” and the Exchange National Bank of Chicago went well beyond this limited approach and others when it came to something that was not only more systematic but also considerably broader in both scale and services.
Newsweek asserted that “the Autobank has made money at a growing clip, almost doubling its deposits in the face of a nationwide decline in bank receipts.” This article further noted, “From a beginning of 50 cars daily, its car-borne patrons increased to more than 600, accounting for 40 percent of the bank’s deposit business.”
This article went on to state, “Unlike some of its early forerunners, the Chicago Autobank handles not only deposits but any transaction not requiring personal conferences. This includes checking loan payments, foreign exchange bond purchases, check certification and so on. If the services of a bank officer are required the teller shoots the papers to him via a pneumatic tube and these get quick attention.”
At around the same time that Newsweek published this article, the Miami News likewise weighed in on the Autobank’s widespread impact. “The auto-bank serves Chicago along with the drive-in theater,” commented this newspaper. “The day of the drive-in everything, unless our wits and autos fail us, cannot be far away.”
By 1948, drive-through banking had expanded to approximately 250 banks in 18 states as well as Mexico City. This type of motorized banking continued to grow even farther and wider over the next few decades.
The attached photo, which was taken sometime around 1969, shows a woman at the drive-through window of the Coral Ridge National Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This driver’s passengers are her son and — being given a treat by the bank teller — their pet dog.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the Autobank in Chicago, please check out https://www.themountaineagle.com/articles/drive-up-banking-debuted-this-week-in-1946/
Transportation History 
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