Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Growers and Merchants State Bank
What happened to Growers and Merchants State Bank?
Growers and Merchants State Bank in Selma, CA merged into Community First Bank of Bakersfield, CA on Jul 29, 1983. After 2 more changes of hands, what was Growers and Merchants State Bank is today part of Westamerica Bank (San Rafael, CA).
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.
- 1978Growers and Merchants State Bank opens in Selma, CA
- Jul 29, 1983MERGEDGrowers and Merchants State Bank merged into Community First Bank of Bakersfield, CA.FDIC certificate 22768 ends; its business continues under certificate 17109.
- Jun 24, 1995MERGEDCommunity First Bank of Bakersfield, CA merged into ValliWide Bank of Fresno, CA.FDIC certificate 17109 ends; its business continues under certificate 21166.
- Jun 21, 1997MERGEDValliWide Bank of Fresno, CA merged into Westamerica Bank of San Rafael, CA.FDIC certificate 21166 ends; its business continues under certificate 3430.
- TodayOPEN
Westamerica BankMain office San Rafael, CA · FDIC certificate 3430 · 75 offices in 1 state on June 30, 2026Every Westamerica Bank office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.westamerica.com
If you still have something from Growers and Merchants State Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows Growers and Merchants State Bank as lienholder, start with Westamerica 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 Westamerica Bank to search for the account under the name Growers and Merchants 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 Westamerica Bank which branch now holds boxes from the Growers and Merchants 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.
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 ▾
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 22768 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.