In 1849, the company was founded in Detroit by Elon Farnsworth as the Detroit Savings Fund Institute. Its name changed to The Detroit Savings Bank in 1871 and to The Detroit Bank in 1936, being one of the few area banks to survive the Great Depression. In 1956, the company merged with Birmingham National Bank, Ferndale National Bank and Detroit Wabeek Bank and Trust Company to form The Detroit Bank & Trust Company. In 1973, it formed a holding company, DetroitBank Corporation. The current name was adopted in 1982. In 1982, Comerica entered the Florida market. In 1983, it acquired its hometown rival, Bank of the Commonwealth of Michigan. It entered the Texas market in 1988 when it acquired Grand Bancshares. In 1990, Comerica received approval to construct a new headquarters building, One Detroit Center. In 1991, the bank expanded to California by acquiring Plaza Commerce Bancorp and InBancshares. In 1992, the bank merged with a similarly-sized Detroit-based bank, Manufacturers National Corporation. In 1996, the bank sold its Illinois operation to LaSalle Bank parent ABN Amro for $190 million. In 1998, the bank signed a 30-year $66 million agreement for the naming rights to Comerica Park in downtown Detroit, home to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. In 2000, the bank sold its credit card division to MBNA and formed an alliance with the company. In 2001, the bank acquired Imperial Bank of California, which also had branches in Arizona. On March 6, 2007, the company announced its decision to relocate its corporate headquarters to Dallas to move closer to its customer base in the Sun Belt. In August, the company announced that it selected 1717 Main Street in Downtown Dallas. The company executives began moving into the new location in November 2007 and the building was renamed Comerica Tower. In January 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury selected the company as the issuing bank for its Direct Express debit card program. The federal government uses the Express Debit product to issue electronic payments, such as Social Security benefits, to people who do not have bank accounts. In July 2011, the bank acquired Sterling Bank of Texas for $1.03 billion. In 2017, the bank announced plans to reduce its office space by 500,000 square feet, saving $7 million in 2018. In March 2020, Comerica appointed a new executive vice president and chief enterprise technology and operations services officer, Megan Crespi.
