Talk:Gate City Bank

Semi-protected edit request on 13 January 2017

I work in the Gate City Bank Marketing Department.

We would like to update the information in the Wiki for Gate City Bank.

Please let me know what I need to do to do that.

Branches: 36 locations Assets: 1.9 Billion Gatecity1 (talk) 14:25, 13 January 2017 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. —MRD2014 (talk • contribs) 15:32, 13 January 2017 (UTC)

References

Semi-protected edit request on 6 February 2017

Current Text: Gate City Bank is a mutually owned bank headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, with 34 branches across North Dakota and 4 in northwestern Minnesota. Change to: Gate City Bank is a mutually owned bank headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, with 36 locations in North Dakota and Western Minnesota.

Current Text: In 2013, its total assets surpassed $1.6 billion. Change to: In 2016, its total assets surpassed $1.9 billion.

Gatecity1 (talk) 22:27, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

Partly done: Using 2015 as your link is to a 2015 annual report. — Train2104 (t • c) 16:05, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

Request

UPDATE: I'm a different person who works in Gate City Bank's Marketing department, and I'm part of the completely new team that is now there. This Wikipedia page is incredibly out of date. Could you please delete it? We no longer wish to be on Wikipedia. It's proving to be very hard to update our information. DainSullivan (talk) 22:38, 27 January 2022 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by DainSullivan (talk • contribs) 22:35, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

No. You can put a request on this page with specific changes and it will be evaluated. I would ask that no further promotional puffery be added to the live article, as your team did on 1/26/22. Kuru (talk) 01:35, 28 January 2022 (UTC)

References

Edit request on behalf of Gate City Bank (COI Disclosure)

Hello!

I’m posting here with a Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure: I am affiliated with Gate City Bank and am proposing edits to its Wikipedia article on the bank’s behalf. I understand that per Wikipedia guidelines, I should not edit the article directly, but instead submit proposed changes here for review.

The proposed version has been carefully rewritten to remove all promotional language, add proper citations to third-party and regulatory sources, and present only verifiable, neutral, and factual content. It’s intended to improve the accuracy and neutrality of the current article. As an extra precaution to ensure neutrality, I did run this entire article through AI and asked for assistance in removing any non-factual content or phrasing.

I welcome any feedback or suggestions regarding these updates. Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Please see proposed neutral edits below:

Extended content

About Gate City Bank

Gate City Bank is a mutual bank headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. Founded in 1923 by eight members, the bank manages assets of approximately $3.8 billion. It is governed by a six-member Board of Directors and employs more than 770 team members. Gate City Bank operates 45 locations across 23 communities in North Dakota and central Minnesota.

The bank has maintained a five-star rating from BauerFinancial for 29 consecutive years. It has also been named one of Prairie Business magazine’s “50 Best Places to Work” for 11 consecutive years. Gate City Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an Equal Housing Lender, and an Equal Opportunity Employer, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.

Mutual Banking

A mutual bank is a cooperative financial institution owned by its depositors or customers, rather than shareholders. Unlike traditional banks that prioritize shareholder returns, mutual banks focus on serving the interests of their members. Profits are often reinvested into the institution to benefit customers and strengthen community engagement.

According to the FDIC, mutual savings banks originated to serve the needs of working-class individuals and small savers, offering a secure place to deposit funds and earn interest.

History and Leadership

Gate City Bank was founded in 1923 by William D. Gillespie, who also served as its first President until 1931. He was succeeded by F. B. McAneney, who led the bank during the Great Depression. Despite economic difficulties, the bank continued to expand its services and geographic reach.

In 2000, Steven Swiontek was appointed President and CEO. In 2019, he transitioned leadership to Kevin Hanson, who has been with the bank for more than 40 years and currently serves as President and CEO.

Mission Statement

Gate City Bank’s stated mission is: “To provide a welcoming atmosphere and commitment to making the lives of our customers and team members better by investing in them and their communities – For a Better Way of Life.®”

Products and Services

Gate City Bank provides a range of personal and business banking products, including checking and savings accounts. The bank also offers consumer loans such as home mortgages, personal loans, and lines of credit. Additional services include Certificates of Deposit (CDs), Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and business banking solutions like treasury management and merchant services.

The bank owns Gate City Insurance Agency and partners with LPL Financial to provide Gate City Investment Services.

Awards and Recognition

Gate City Bank has received several honors, including the 2022 Freedom Award from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Affordable Housing Award from the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency. Other recognitions include:

• Bankrate’s “Most Popular Bank in North Dakota”
• Ranked #3 in the U.S. on Forbes’ 2022 List of World’s Best Banks in 2024

Community Partnerships

Since 2003, Gate City Bank has donated more than $45.2 million to charitable causes, including $4.3 million in 2024. Employees have contributed over 338,000 volunteer hours. Key initiatives include:

• Giving Hearts Day: Over $2.2 million donated and support for more than 300 charities.
• Military Support: Paid leave and continued benefits for active-duty military team members.

Reganstraus (talk) 20:52, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

@Reganstraus: You did not add an edit request template (this could have been done automatically by following Wikipedia:Edit Request Wizard), so this request is not visible to editors who watch the edit request queue.

Regardless, I am closing this as Not done: because this is promotional and the sourcing is AI-generated; most of the URLs lead to error pages. We aren't interested in what the company has to say about itself. Please do not use AI either; see WP:Large language models. Helpful Raccoon (talk) 23:06, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

Edit Request: Additonal Detail

• History section should include: Gate City Bank was founded in 1923 by William D. Gillespie, who also served as its first President until 1931. He was succeeded by F. B. McAneney, who led the bank during the Great Depression – a period of significant challenge for North Dakota’s financial institutions. In 2000, Steven Swiontek was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and in 2019, he transitioned leadership to Kevin Hanson.

• The information in this edit request does is not editorialized or promotional in any way. It is just meant to enrich the historical information about Gate City Bank. Also, multiple hyperlinks/cited sources from these refer back to Gate City Bank's page (i.e. William Gillespie and Steve Swiontek's pages on Wikipedia):

SharkyShark2013 (talk) 19:14, 25 June 2025 (UTC)

References

Question: Relevant information generally, but just wondering if you might be able to find better sourcing? PK650 (talk) 23:45, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

Any information in particular that you'd like better sourcing for?

Here is an additional source to show William Gillespie's founding (used on his Wikipedia page, as well):

Ronald Lanier Ramsey (February 10, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Grand Lodge of North Dakota, Ancient Order of United Workmen". National Park Service.

Here is an additional article about Gate City Bank's transfer of leadership from Steve Swiontek to Kevin Hanson: https://www.gatecity.bank/about-us/news/gate-city-bank-names-new-president-ceo-executive-chair/ SharkyShark2013 (talk) 15:53, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

Partly done: Line supported by InForum added. Well, more like kept. I undid your COI edit. Please don't make COI edits - that's a really good way to get banned. Thanks for your patience.

If you would like more written in this page, I would recommend that you take a look at some of the sources mentioned in the sources mentioned in the second deletion discussion. There has been notable coverage of this bank that would go well in this page. Meepmeepyeet (talk) 04:06, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

Edit request

Hello. I would like to add the following to the Gate City Bank intro section to help build the encyclopedia entry about Gate City Bank. Including Gate City Bank’s founding year, number of assets and employees, and membership in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation give readers standard factual details about the bank's history, size, regulatory status and deposit insurance, which is commonly listed for U.S. banks to improve completeness and clarity. I have provided neutral third-party sources. Thank you!

Founded in 1923, the bank manages assets of $3.98 billion and has more than 770 employees. Gate City Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

WikiWriter5678 (talk) 19:29, 8 April 2026 (UTC) WikiWriter5678 (talk) 19:29, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Extended content

Edit request

Under the Gate City Bank History and Leadership section, I would like to add the following edits to help build the entry. Expanding the History section would provide clearer context about the bank's development over time, consistent with Wikipedia’s goal of documenting notable organizations using verifiable, independent sources. Additions to the Leadership section would help clarify organizational structure and continuity where such information has received reliable coverage. Together, these updates would improve completeness, readability, and reliability of the article while maintaining a neutral, encyclopedic tone. I have included the updates in with the already approved section, to make placement of new information easier. Thank you!

History and leadership

Gate City Bank was founded on July 2, 1923, by William Gillespie and seven others as Gate City Building & Loan Association. The name was inspired by the "Gateway to the West" nickname the railroad gave Fargo in 1872. Their goal was to help working-class families own homes. As a mutual bank, Gate City Bank is owned by its customers, sometimes called members.

Major Historical Events

Year	Event
1923	Bank chartered as Gate City Building & Loan Association.
1956	Bank builds headquarters on Fifth Street and Second Avenue in downtown Fargo
1986	Bank changes company type to mutual bank and name to Gate City Federal Savings Bank
1990	Bank launches Totally Free Checking -- a new concept at the time.
2000	Name changed to Gate City Bank

Executive Leadership

In 2000, the bank appointed Steven Swiontek President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He started with the bank in 1978 and under his leadership, the bank grew from 16 locations to 43 and from 148 employees to over 700.

In 2019, Gate City Bank named Kevin Hanson the new president and CEO. Hanson was chief operating officer (COO) and had worked at Gate City Bank since 1983.

Other executive leadership includes:

• Amy Durbin, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
• Chris Lee, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
• Jessica Ebeling, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital & Payment Officer
• Kim Settel, Executive Vice President, Chief Retail Banking Officer
• Ryan Goellner, Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer
• Heather Rye, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer

Board of Directors

The bank is governed by a six-member Board of Directors elected by the membership. Board members include:

• Swiontek, board chair
• Hanson
• Rodney Larson, a retired chief health policy officer for the American Academy of Neurology
• J. Patrick Traynor, president of Dakota Medical Foundation
• Sindy Keller, a retired controller and senior accountant for Brandt Holdings Company
• Kim Meyer, former executive vice president and chief human resources officer, who worked at the bank for 37 years

References

WikiWriter5678 (talk) 20:25, 8 April 2026 (UTC) WikiWriter5678 (talk) 20:25, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Reply 7-JUN-2026

Below you will see where proposals from your request have been quoted with reviewer decisions and feedback inserted underneath, either accepting, declining or otherwise commenting upon your proposal(s). Please read the numbered notes within the edit request review section below for additional information on each request.

Edit request review 7-JUN-2026

Gate City Bank was founded on July 2, 1923, by William Gillespie and seven others as Gate City Building & Loan Association.
Already done.


The name was inspired by the "Gateway to the West" nickname the railroad gave Fargo in 1872.
Clarification needed.


Their goal was to help working-class families own homes. As a mutual bank, Gate City Bank is owned by its customers, sometimes called members.
Declined.


Major historical events timeline
Declined.


In 2000, the bank appointed Steven Swiontek President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He started with the bank in 1978
Clarification needed.


and under his leadership, the bank grew from 16 locations to 43 and from 148 employees to over 700.
Declined.


Other executive leadership and board of directors includes: (etc.,)
Declined.

---

Regards,  Spintendo  00:36, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

Regarding this one "The name was inspired by the "Gateway to the West" nickname the railroad gave Fargo in 1872." I know the railroad name, but the newspaper I cited did not list it, so for citation reasons, I don't think I can list it. Please advise. WikiWriter5678 (talk) 12:53, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

How about this? It uses the newspaper source for the name and a railroad website source for the city's nickname.

The name was inspired by Fargo’s "Gateway to the West" nickname. As a mutual bank, Gate City Bank is owned by its customers, sometimes called members. WikiWriter5678 (talk) 14:29, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Regarding point 3, describing the bank as a mutual bank is no different than describing a financial institution as a credit union. It is a descriptor -- not mantra. Please reconsider at least the second half of the entry. WikiWriter5678 (talk) 13:26, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Regarding point 4 – Since most of it was acceptable, rather than deleting the whole table, would this work?

Year	Event
1923	Bank chartered as Gate City Building & Loan Association.
1956	Bank builds headquarters on Fifth Street and Second Avenue in downtown Fargo
1986	Bank changes company type to mutual bank and name to Gate City Federal Savings Bank
1990	The bank offers free checking, which was a new concept at the time.
2000	Name changed to Gate City Bank

Regarding point 5, would this work:

In 1978, the bank hired Steven Swiontek, who would become President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2000. He retired in 2020 but remained board chair. WikiWriter5678 (talk) 14:42, 10 June 2026 (UTC)