A bigger network during a pandemic
On September 1, 2020, Aurelio Alemán announced that First BanCorp. had completed its acquisition of Santander BanCorp and Banco Santander Puerto Rico. The chief executive thanked employees for preparing the combination while the pandemic disrupted ordinary operations. Customers did not immediately move onto one computer system: the release said existing customers would keep using their established branches and platforms while integration proceeded. FirstBank’s subsequent history records that integration was completed in 2021. [3][4]
The transaction joined two established Puerto Rican networks. Banco Santander Puerto Rico had approximately $5.5 billion in assets, $2.7 billion in loans and $4.2 billion in deposits at July 31, 2020, before closing. First BanCorp. described an estimated cash closing payment comprising a $394.8 million base purchase price plus $882.8 million for excess capital. The latter was paid at par, so describing the deal only by its premium would miss most of the cash payment. [3]
Alemán presented the acquisition as a way to improve scale, staffing and competitiveness in retail and business banking. Those were management’s stated aims. For customers, the concrete change was a larger network, with a combined 73 Puerto Rico branches announced at closing and systems integration still ahead. Acquisition, legal consolidation and customer conversion were connected steps, not interchangeable dates. [3]
The savings-and-loan roots
FirstBank traces its beginning to the founding of First Federal Savings and Loans Association in 1948, which it describes as Puerto Rico’s first savings-and-loan institution. The FDIC records January 17, 1949 as the establishment date of the insured bank now carrying certificate 30387. The historical founding year and regulatory establishment date describe different milestones; the present bank is FirstBank Puerto Rico, headquartered in Santurce. [1][4]
Expansion beyond Puerto Rico began well before the Santander transaction. The bank’s history dates its first Saint Thomas branch to 1962. It adopted the FirstBank Puerto Rico name in 1994, later acquired Chase Manhattan Bank’s U.S. Virgin Islands operations in 2002, and bought UniBank and related Florida businesses in 2005. The Florida business provides a mainland presence, while the Virgin Islands operations connect the institution to neighboring island economies. [4]
In 2015, FirstBank acquired ten Doral Bank branches and more than $500 million in deposits, according to its history. That was a purchase of selected operations, rather than a claim that FirstBank acquired every Doral business. The Santander transaction five years later was a larger step in the same broad direction, adding established customer relationships to the existing franchise. [4]
The bank, its parent and its customers
The publicly traded company is First BanCorp., whose shares trade as FBP. Its banking subsidiary is FirstBank Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rico-chartered commercial bank regulated by the island’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and the FDIC. The parent also owns FirstBank Insurance Agency. An investment in the parent’s stock is therefore a different legal relationship from depositing money at the bank. [5]
At year-end 2025, the annual report described 57 banking branches in Puerto Rico, eight in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and eight in Florida. Those are dated operating counts, not the 73 Puerto Rico branches announced when Santander closed in 2020. The bank combines ordinary deposits and household lending with mortgages, auto finance and business credit. Its subsidiaries include the small-loan business operating as Money Express La Financiera. [5]
The commercial business lends to larger and middle-market customers, while household lending includes vehicle finance and home mortgages. Much commercial lending is supported by real-estate collateral and borrower guarantees, according to the annual report. Those protections give the bank additional repayment sources, but they do not turn a loan into cash: a weak borrower or falling property value can still produce a loss. [5]
Why the local economy matters
Puerto Rico is both the bank’s home market and a major source of its funding. First BanCorp.’s July 2026 results reported $2.6 billion in Puerto Rico public-sector deposits at June 30. About 21% came from municipalities and municipal agencies, with the remainder from public corporations, the central government and agencies, and U.S. federal agencies operating on the island. These are parent-reported figures and should not be added to the bank’s FDIC deposits as if they were a separate pool. [6]
Government balances can change as public bodies collect and spend money. The annual report also identifies the timing of disaster-recovery assistance as an influence on Puerto Rico’s economic activity, while warning that hurricanes, earthquakes and other disruptions can affect borrowers and the bank’s own operations. These exposures help explain why an institution with Florida and Virgin Islands operations still depends heavily on developments in Puerto Rico. [5]
The company’s July 22 release also described a more immediate source of growth: Alemán said commercial activity in Puerto Rico drove the quarter’s faster loan growth. First BanCorp. reported $96.1 million of second-quarter net income, compared with $80.2 million a year earlier. Those are quarterly consolidated parent results, separate from the six-month bank earnings in the FDIC figures. [6]
The June 2026 bank in numbers
FirstBank Puerto Rico held $19.22 billion in assets and $16.90 billion in deposits at June 30, 2026. Net loans and leases were $13.03 billion and equity capital was $1.93 billion. The bank reported $181.1 million of net income for the first half of the year. These regulatory figures identify the insured bank, rather than combining the bank with every other First BanCorp. activity. [2]
Gross loans included $6.58 billion secured by real estate, $2.78 billion of consumer loans and $1.99 billion of commercial and industrial loans. The mix reflects a bank serving households as well as businesses, rather than a single-purpose mortgage institution. From the savings-and-loan origins to the Santander integration, the central story is an expanding set of financial relationships built around the same regional economy. Its broader network provides reach; the quality of those loans and the stability of its deposits determine how durable that growth proves. [2][4][5]
Sources
- FDIC institution directory, October 2, 2026 index; reviewed October 5Official sourceBack to text: ↑
- FDIC bank financials, June 30, 2026; dollar fields in thousandsOfficial sourceBack to text: ↑1↑2
- First BanCorp. acquisition completion release, September 1, 2020SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3
- FirstBank official history, reviewed October 5, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4↑5
- First BanCorp. 2025 Form 10-K, dated February 27, 2026Filing / reportBack to text: ↑1↑2↑3↑4↑5↑6↑7
- First BanCorp. second-quarter 2026 results, July 22, 2026SourceBack to text: ↑1↑2