After
82 Resilient Years,
Still Here…For YOU!
1 st National Bank St. Lucia Limited’s Managing Director, Johnathan
Johannes, speaks on the indigenous bank’s storied legacy
Story by Stan Bishop
The history of 1 st National Bank
St. Lucia Limited is a storied one.
It’s about a group of Saint Lucians
planting the seeds over eight
decades ago so that St. Lucians
today can feel proud using banking
services previously denied them by
foreign banks.
From its inception in 1938, 1 st
National Bank – known back then
as Saint Lucia Co-operative Bank
-- has always been there in the
interest of Saint Lucians. At the
core of the island’s first indigenous
bank was the transformation
of the St. Lucian economy and
wider society by providing
opportunities for all Saint Lucians,
particularly those from low-income
backgrounds.
And so it began in January 1938,
when seven men with a share
capital of $50,000 embarked on
a quest to differentiate the bank
from its competitors by accepting
very small deposits, thereby
encouraging thrift. Small wonder
why decades later the bank is still
referred to as “The Penny Bank”.
Ten years after the bank was
established, the Saint Lucia Co-
operative Bank played a major
role in reshaping the island’s city
infrastructure when it was asked
to translate its members’ pennies
into the mortgage finance needed
to rebuild Castries after the
devastating fire that gutted the
city in June 1948. Aside from being
there for Saint Lucians through
many other natural and economic
disasters over the years, the bank
also assisted many people seeking
to own a home or finance higher
education.
In December 2005, the Saint Lucia
www.slyoumag.com | February - April 2020
Co-operative Bank underwent its
iconic rebranding and was renamed
1 st National Bank, with its popular
tagline, “Here…for YOU!” Among
the many who have benefitted from
the bank’s services is its current
Managing Director, Johnathan J.
Johannes.
When Johannes decided to get
his first home, he approached
1 st National Bank, which was still
using its moniker, Saint Lucia Co-
operative Bank. The bank approved
his first loan, and he has since
cherished the deep ties to the
financial institution.
“I will always be grateful to 1 st
National Bank – not just for
giving me my first shot at being
a Managing Director, but for also
putting me in my first home. I love
this institution – from both the
customer side and the employee
side,” Johannes said.
SL-YOU | It’s All About Business 45