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View detailsBanking before statehood: Hawaii
First Hawaiian Bank was founded on August 17, 1858, as Bishop & Company by Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich. At the time, Hawaii was an independent kingdom ruled by Kamehameha IV. The bank predates Hawaii's overthrow as a monarchy (1893), its annexation by the United States (1898), its establishment as a US territory (1900), and its admission as the 50th state (1959). When First Hawaiian Bank opened its doors, the American Civil War was still three years away.
Bishop & Company became the First National Bank of Hawaii in 1933 and eventually First Hawaiian Bank in 1969. Today it is the largest bank in Hawaii with over $24 billion in assets and more than 50 branches across Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, Lanai, and Guam. Its routing number, 121301015, is one of the most recognized numbers in Hawaiian commerce.
From Bishop & Company to BNP Paribas and back
In 1998, French banking giant BNP Paribas acquired a controlling stake in First Hawaiian, making a 140-year-old Hawaiian institution a subsidiary of the largest bank in France. BNP Paribas began divesting its stake in 2016 through a series of public offerings, and by 2019 First Hawaiian was once again fully independent and publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker FHB. The return to independence was welcomed by the local business community, who saw it as a restoration of Hawaiian self-determination in a banking sector increasingly dominated by mainland and international institutions.
Routing number and transfers
First Hawaiian Bank's routing number is 121301015, processed through the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco — the same Fed district that handles all Hawaiian banking. This applies to ACH transfers, direct deposits, and wire transfers. Military families stationed on the mainland who maintain First Hawaiian accounts regularly use 121301015 for cross-Pacific direct deposits.
Customers on the mainland should be aware of processing time differences. Hawaii operates in the Hawaii-Aleutian time zone (UTC-10), so ACH cutoff times may differ from mainland banks by several hours. A same-day ACH transfer initiated from New York at 3:00 PM ET may not meet First Hawaiian's processing window for the same business day.
Pacific banking logistics
Banking in Hawaii presents challenges mainland banks never face. Physical cash must be shipped by armored transport on inter-island flights. Check processing involves scanning documents across six inhabited islands and transmitting them to a centralized operations center on Oahu. Even routine ATM servicing requires air travel. These realities make Hawaiian banking more expensive to operate, which partly explains why Hawaii historically has higher bank fees and fewer competing institutions. First Hawaiian has adapted by investing heavily in digital banking, with its mobile app and online platform handling the vast majority of routine transactions.
No branch required, no matter which ocean you're near
First Hawaiian is a remarkable institution — 166 years old, deeply woven into the fabric of island life, and genuinely irreplaceable for personal banking in Hawaii. Businesses operating on the mainland or with teams spread across the continent need banking infrastructure that isn't anchored to a single archipelago. Slash provides a fully digital business banking platform with corporate cards, spend management, and accounting integrations that work whether your team is in Honolulu, Houston, or anywhere in between.
