Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › Wyoming › The Equality State Bank
What happened to The Equality State Bank?
The Equality State Bank in Cheyenne, WY merged into First Interstate Bank of Sheridan, WY on Sep 16, 2000. After 1 more change of hands, what was The Equality State Bank is today part of First Interstate Bank (Billings, MT).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1977The Equality State Bank opens in Cheyenne, WY
- Sep 16, 2000MERGEDThe Equality State Bank merged into First Interstate Bank of Sheridan, WY.FDIC certificate 22547 ends; its business continues under certificate 524.
- Nov 10, 2001MERGEDFirst Interstate Bank of Sheridan, WY merged into First Interstate Bank of Billings, MT.FDIC certificate 524 ends; its business continues under certificate 1105.
- TodayOPEN
First Interstate BankMain office Billings, MT · FDIC certificate 1105 · 274 offices in 10 states on June 30, 2026Every First Interstate Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.firstinterstatebank.com
If you still have something from The Equality State Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows The Equality State Bank as lienholder, start with First Interstate Bank. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask First Interstate Bank to search for the account under the name The Equality State Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask First Interstate Bank which branch now holds boxes from the The Equality State Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain. The office list below shows which bank each office reports under now.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Its offices in the FDIC deposit reports
3 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 2 are still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 401 W 19th StCheyenne, WY | OpenFirst Interstate Bank |
| 300 Sw Wyoming BlvdMills, WY | OpenFirst Interstate Bank |
| 40 South Curtis StreetEvansville, WY | No longer reported |
Banks folded into The Equality State Bank
3 banks merged directly into this charter; counting the banks those had absorbed earlier, 4 charters end up inside it.
| Bank | Ended |
|---|---|
| Pioneer Bank of EvanstonEvanston, WY | Dec 1, 1991 |
| First State Bank of LymanLyman, WY | Nov 1, 1991 |
| Equality Bank of EvansvilleEvansville, WY | May 1, 1989 |
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 22547 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.