Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › California › Frontier State Bank
What happened to Frontier State Bank?
Frontier State Bank in Redondo Beach, CA (earlier called Frontier Savings and Loan Association) merged into First Federal Bank of California, a Federal Savings Bank of Santa Monica, CA on Nov 30, 2001. After 2 more changes of hands, what was Frontier State Bank is today part of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (Raleigh, NC).
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.
- 1978Frontier Savings and Loan Association opens in Redondo Beach, CA
- Jun 29, 1990renamed Frontier State Bank
- Nov 30, 2001MERGEDFrontier State Bank merged into First Federal Bank of California, a Federal Savings Bank of Santa Monica, CA.FDIC certificate 32066 ends; its business continues under certificate 28536.
- Dec 18, 2009FAILEDFirst Federal Bank of California, a Federal Savings Bank of Santa Monica, CA failed, and OneWest Bank, FSB of Pasadena, CA took it over.FDIC certificate 28536 ends; its business continues under certificate 58978.
- Jan 4, 2022MERGEDOneWest Bank, FSB (by then renamed CIT Bank, National Association) of Pasadena, CA merged into First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company of Raleigh, NC.FDIC certificate 58978 ends; its business continues under certificate 11063.
- TodayOPEN
First-Citizens Bank & Trust CompanyMain office Raleigh, NC · FDIC certificate 11063 · 518 offices in 23 states on June 30, 2026Every First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.firstcitizens.com
If you still have something from Frontier State Bank
A lien that was never released
First Federal Bank of California, a Federal Savings Bank failed on Dec 18, 2009. For a failed bank placed in FDIC receivership, the FDIC may be able to issue the lien release, if the loan was paid off to the bank before it failed or to the FDIC afterward. The FDIC says that where a failed bank had an acquirer, its records in most cases went to that acquirer. Here the chain from the acquirer leads to First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, which is worth asking too.
Requests go through the FDIC Information and Support Center with the recorded mortgage or title, and proof of payoff. The FDIC says to allow 30 business days once it has every document, and does not take requests by phone or email. Questions: FDIC Resolution Inquiries, 888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central on weekdays.
An old account, passbook or CD
When a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, insured depositors become its customers right away (here, OneWest Bank, FSB). Start with First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, and ask them to search under the name Frontier State Bank.
For failures since mid-1993 the law sets a clock: insured deposits not claimed within 18 months of the FDIC starting to pay depositors are offered to the state of the depositor's last known address on the bank's records. If the state takes them, the owner has 10 years to claim there before the money returns to the FDIC. Check FDIC unclaimed funds search and that state's unclaimed-property program.
A safe deposit box
The FDIC says that when a healthy bank assumes a failed bank's deposits, the branches usually reopen the next business day with box access. Today, ask First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company. A box abandoned for years may have been 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
2 offices filed under this charter in some year from 1994 on. 1 is still open as of June 30, 2026.
| Office | Now |
|---|---|
| 2233 Artesia BlvdRedondo Beach, CA | OpenFirst-Citizens Bank & Trust Company |
| 1513 West Sepulveda Blvd Ste B2Torrance, CA | No longer reported |
Banks folded into Frontier State Bank
1 bank merged directly into this charter.
| Bank | Ended |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth Thrift and LoanTorrance, CA | Aug 19, 1996 |
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 32066 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.