Draft:Centier Bank
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Submission declined on 4 August 2026 by LittlePuppers (talk). This draft reads like an advertisement. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a platform for promotion or marketing. Drafts that are exclusively promotional may be deleted without notice.
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Declined by LittlePuppers 2 days ago.
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This draft appears to contain text generated by a large language model (such as ChatGPT). You cannot use LLMs to generate article content.
Declined by CostalCal 2 days ago.LLM-generated pages with certain obvious signs of being machine generated may be deleted without notice. Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. See the advice page on large language models for more information. | |
Comment: Sources are either primary or trivial/routine coverage. LittlePuppers (talk) 16:53, 4 August 2026 (UTC)
- Comment: The frequent use of "-" is a tell-tale sign of potential LLM use. CostalCal (talk) 02:16, 4 August 2026 (UTC)
 Centier Bank headquarters in Merrillville, Indiana | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Founder | Henry Schrage |
| Headquarters | Merrillville, Indiana , United States |
Key people | Chris Campbell (President & CEO) Michael E. Schrage (Chairman) |
| Products | Retail banking, commercial banking, mortgage lending, wealth management |
| Total assets | US$10.1 billion (2026)[update] |
| Owner | Schrage family |
Number of employees | approx. 1,100 |
| Website | www |
Centier Bank is a privately held, family-owned bank headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana. It originated in Whiting, Indiana in 1895 and has operated continuously under the ownership of the Schrage family since its founding.[1] As of 2026[update], Centier reported more than $10 billion in total assets[2] and operated 63 branch offices, most of them in northern Indiana.[3]
History
[edit]Henry Schrage, a German immigrant and Union Army veteran who had settled in Whiting, founded the Bank of Whiting on April 21, 1895, at 1738 119th Street, with $35,000 in capital and $5,600 in deposits.[1] In 1911 the bank moved to a new building at the corner of New York Avenue and 119th Street, designed by architect Herbert Ericson at a cost of about $50,000. The building included a vault built by the Mosler Safe Company and a separate room for women customers.[1]
Leadership passed through several generations of the Schrage family. Henry Schrage became chairman in 1917 and was succeeded as president by his son, Walter Schrage Sr. Walter Schrage Jr. joined the bank as a clerk in 1933 and became president in 1941 after his father's death. Michael E. Schrage, Walter Jr.'s son, joined the bank in 1972, became president in 1977, and became chairman in 1982.[1][4]
The bank was renamed First Bank of Whiting in 1960 and expanded to four branch offices in surrounding communities. In 1982 it merged with First National Bank of Crown Point, which had about $65 million in assets, and Southlake National Bank of Lowell, which had about $9.2 million in assets. The combined institution was renamed Centier Bank in 1991.[1]
In January 2023, Centier's board of directors named Chris Campbell, who had joined the bank in 2006 and is married to Michael Schrage's daughter, Laura, as president. Michael Schrage stepped down as chief executive officer in February 2026 after 53 years with the bank, and Campbell succeeded him as CEO while Schrage remained chairman.[4][5]
Centier opened a public museum in its original Whiting building in June 2021. The museum, which is free to visit, displays artifacts including bank ledgers from the 1890s and 1900s and the vault door from the bank's first location.[6]
Redlining lawsuit
[edit]In October 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Centier Bank in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, alleging that the bank had violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by failing to market and provide lending products on an equal basis in majority-African American and Hispanic census tracts in Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond, Indiana.[7][8] The parties reached a settlement, approved by the court on October 16, 2006, under which Centier agreed to open new branch offices in the affected areas, direct $3.5 million toward special financing programs, and spend at least $875,000 on consumer financial education and outreach. The case was dismissed with prejudice in March 2012.[7][8] The case has since been discussed in legal scholarship on fair lending enforcement.[9]
Operations
[edit]Centier offers retail banking, business banking, mortgage lending, and wealth management services and is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.[3] As of July 2026[update], the bank operated 63 branch offices across 13 counties in Indiana.[3]
| County | Banking offices |
|---|---|
| Allen | 2 |
| Boone | 2 |
| Elkhart | 4 |
| Hamilton | 3 |
| Hendricks | 1 |
| Johnson | 2 |
| Lake | 24 |
| LaPorte | 2 |
| Marion | 3 |
| Marshall | 1 |
| Porter | 10 |
| St. Joseph | 4 |
| Tippecanoe | 5 |
Recognition
[edit]Centier has been included in American Banker magazine's rankings of Best Banks to Work For and in Forbes' state-by-state bank rankings for Indiana. In 2025, J.D. Power ranked Centier first in customer satisfaction among retail banks in its North Central region, and the Indiana Bankers Association recognized the bank for community service through its Commitment to Community award.[10][11][12][13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "History of Whiting's Banks: Part One". Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ "Centier Bank Total Assets Historical Data". USBankLocations.com. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- 1 2 3 4 "BankFind Suite: Institution Details, Centier Bank (Cert #12854)". Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- 1 2 "Centier Bank Continues Family Legacy by Announcing 5th Generation Leadership". Centier Bank. 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Pfundstein, Heather (2026-02-10). "Schrage steps down as CEO of Centier Bank". Northwest Indiana Business Magazine. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ "Banking History Going On Display As New Centier Bank Museum Is Set To Open In Whiting, Indiana". CBS News Chicago. 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- 1 2 "Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Centier Bank Regarding Alleged Discrimination in Lending" (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice. 2006-10-13. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- 1 2 "United States v. Centier Bank". Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, University of Michigan Law School. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ Taylor, Winnie F. (2009). "Eliminating Racial Discrimination in the Subprime Mortgage Market: Proposals for Fair Lending Reform". Journal of Law and Policy. 18 (1): 263–294. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
- ↑ "The top 20: These are the 2025 Best Banks to Work For". American Banker. 2025. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ "Forbes names Centier top bank in Indiana". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ "Centier Bank Named Best Retail Bank for Customer Satisfaction in the North Central Region by J.D. Power" (Press release). Business Wire. 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ "3 Indiana Banks Win Statewide Award for Commitment to Community". Building Indiana Business. Retrieved 2026-08-04.
External links
[edit]Category:Banks based in Indiana Category:Companies based in Merrillville, Indiana Category:Banks established in 1895 Category:Family-owned companies of the United States Category:1895 establishments in Indiana
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