Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › New Jersey › Garwood Savings and Loan Association
What happened to Garwood Savings and Loan Association?
Garwood Savings and Loan Association in Garwood, NJ merged into Arch Federal Savings and Loan Association of Elizabeth, NJ on Oct 31, 1980. After 3 more changes of hands, what was Garwood Savings and Loan Association is today part of Santander Bank, N.A. (Wilmington, DE).
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.
- 1911Garwood Savings and Loan Association opens in Garwood, NJ
- Oct 31, 1980MERGEDGarwood Savings and Loan Association merged into Arch Federal Savings and Loan Association of Elizabeth, NJ.FDIC certificate 31243 ends; its business continues under certificate 29815.
- Sep 30, 1982MERGEDArch Federal Savings and Loan Association of Elizabeth, NJ merged into Statewide Savings and Loan Association of Jersey City, NJ.FDIC certificate 29815 ends; its business continues under certificate 30232.
- Jan 8, 2000MERGEDStatewide Savings and Loan Association (by then renamed Statewide Savings Bank, SLA) of Jersey City, NJ merged into Independence Community Bank of Brooklyn, NY.FDIC certificate 30232 ends; its business continues under certificate 16018.
- Sep 9, 2006MERGEDIndependence Community Bank of Brooklyn, NY merged into Sovereign Bank of Wilmington, DE.FDIC certificate 16018 ends; its business continues under certificate 29950.
- TodayOPEN
Santander Bank, N.A.Main office Wilmington, DE · FDIC certificate 29950 · 368 offices in 9 states on June 30, 2026Every Santander Bank, N.A. office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.santander.com
If you still have something from Garwood Savings and Loan Association
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows Garwood Savings and Loan Association as lienholder, start with Santander Bank, N.A.. 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 Santander Bank, N.A. to search for the account under the name Garwood Savings and Loan Association. 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 Santander Bank, N.A. which branch now holds boxes from the Garwood Savings and Loan Association 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 31243 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.