UMB Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, at 1010 Grand Boulevard. It traces to a Missouri bank chartered in 1913 as City Center Bank, which passed into the control of William T. Kemper Sr. around 1918–1919 and has been led by members of the Kemper family ever since — the same family that controls the separate and competing Commerce Bancshares. The company traded under the names City Center Bank, City National Bank and Trust, United Missouri Bancshares, and finally UMB Financial Corporation. Its January 2025 acquisition of Heartland Financial USA was the largest in its history and lifted total assets past $70 billion.

Summary

UMB dates its founding to the 1913 chartering of City Center Bank in Kansas City.12 Around 1918–1919 the Kansas City financier William Thornton Kemper Sr. (1867–1938) acquired a controlling interest, and his son R. Crosby Kemper Sr. (1892–1972) took the presidency — beginning an unbroken family stewardship now in its fifth generation.324 Sources disagree on the precise year: the Wikipedia biography of Kemper Sr. gives 1918 for the acquisition, while the UMB corporate article dates the Kemper purchase of shares and Crosby Kemper Sr.’s presidency to 1919.32

The institution was renamed City National Bank and Trust Company in 1934, reorganized under a holding company in 1969, took the United Missouri Bancshares name in 1971, and became UMB Financial Corporation in 1994 as its footprint spread beyond Missouri.2 Following the Heartland Financial USA acquisition completed on January 31, 2025, UMB reported total assets of $73.1 billion at December 31, 2025 and $72.3 billion at June 30, 2026.56

The Kemper family and the two banks

The Kemper banking dynasty in Kansas City begins with William T. Kemper Sr., who married Charlotte Crosby in 1890, moved to Kansas City, and entered the orbit of the banker William Stone Woods.34 Kemper became president of the institution that became Commerce in 1903 and founded the Commerce Trust Company in 1906; he then acquired City Center Bank and installed his own line of succession there.37

The result was two competing Kansas City banks under one family. Kemper Sr.’s son James M. Kemper led Commerce Trust from 1925 to 1964, while his son R. Crosby Kemper Sr. ran the City Center Bank line — the UMB lineage — for roughly 45 years.34 The two branches have remained separate ever since: the Commerce line runs through James M. Kemper Jr., David W. Kemper, and John W. Kemper; the UMB line through R. Crosby Kemper Jr., Crosby Kemper III, and Mariner Kemper.42

R. Crosby Kemper Jr. (1927–2014) became president in 1959 and installed the bank’s first computer processing system; UMB says it was the first Kansas City bank to install electronic data processors, in 1961.21 He and his wife Bebe founded the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and Kemper Arena is named for his father, R. Crosby Kemper Sr. Crosby Kemper III served as chief executive from 2000 to 2004, when Mariner Kemper succeeded him; Mariner Kemper remains chairman and chief executive officer.28

Headquarters buildings

City Center Bank built a six-story headquarters in 1926 and added a drive-up window in 1928.2 On its 1934 renaming to City National Bank and Trust Company, the bank moved into Kansas City’s financial district, opening its headquarters on the first floor of the R. A. Long Building at 928 Grand Boulevard; it purchased the entire building in 1947 and undertook a major restoration beginning in 2000.29 The same building had housed the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1914 to 1921 before that institution moved.9

UMB’s current headquarters, the UMB Bank Building at 1010 Grand Boulevard, opened in July 1986 with roughly 250,000 square feet, and is connected to the R. A. Long Building by an enclosed elevated walkway.109

Expansion and acquisitions

UMB grew from a single Kansas City bank into a multi-state holding company through a long sequence of purchases:2

  • 1987 — FCB Corp and three southern Illinois banks
  • 1992 — Valley Bank and National Bank of the West (Colorado Springs); Columbine National Bank (Denver)
  • 1995 — Oklahoma Bank and First Sooner Bancshares
  • 2001–2002 — Sunstone Financial Group; State Street Bank & Trust Company of Missouri
  • 2015 — Marquette Financial Companies, adding Minnesota, Texas, and Arizona
  • 2025 — Heartland Financial USA, Inc.

Heartland Financial acquisition (2025)

UMB completed its acquisition of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (HTLF) on January 31, 2025, in an all-stock transaction. UMB described it as the largest acquisition in its 111-year history, raising total assets to approximately $68 billion on a combined basis using December 31, 2024 figures — an increase of more than 30 percent.8 The deal expanded UMB’s branch footprint from eight states to 13, adding California, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wisconsin to Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, and produced a combined network of 197 banking centers and 350 ATMs. Five HTLF directors joined UMB’s board, expanding it to 16 members.8 Systems and brand conversion followed in 2025.8

At December 31, 2025, UMB reported total assets of $73.1 billion, up 45.0 percent from $50.4 billion a year earlier, with fourth-quarter net income available to common shareholders of $209.5 million.5 At June 30, 2026, the company reported total assets of $72.3 billion and total deposits of $59.8 billion, with branches in 14 states.6

Legacy

UMB is one of two large regional banks controlled by the same Kansas City family, and the rivalry between the UMB and Commerce branches of the Kempers is a persistent feature of the city’s business and civic history. The family’s philanthropy is visible across the city in Kemper Arena, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and the long association of Kemper family members with the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Public Library.4

Sources

Footnotes

  1. “Our History,” UMB Bank. 1913 charter of City Center Bank as the original Kansas City bank; 1961 electronic data processors ↩ ↩2

  2. “UMB Financial Corporation,” Wikipedia. Name sequence (City Center Bank → City National Bank and Trust, 1934 → Missouri Bancshares, 1969 → United Missouri Bancshares, 1971 → UMB Financial Corporation, 1994); 1919 Kemper share purchase and R. Crosby Kemper presidency; 1926 six-story headquarters; 1928 drive-up window; Crosby Kemper Jr. president 1959; Mariner Kemper CEO from 2004; acquisition list 1987–2025 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  3. “William Thornton Kemper Sr.,” Wikipedia. Life dates 1867–1938; marriage to Charlotte Crosby (1890); Commerce Trust Company founded 1906; acquisition of City Center Bank in 1918; sons R. Crosby Kemper (City National Bank, 45 years) and James M. Kemper (Commerce Trust, 1925–1964). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. “A History We Can Still Bank On,” Ingram’s. Kemper family lineage; the Commerce line (James Madison Kemper Jr., David Kemper, Jonathan Kemper, John Kemper) versus the UMB/City Center line (Rufus Crosby Kemper, Crosby Kemper III, Mariner Kemper); W.T. Kemper’s death in January 1938 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. “UMB Financial Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results” (UMB investor relations, January 2026). Total assets $73.1 billion at December 31, 2025, up 45.0% from $50.4 billion at December 31, 2024; Q4 2025 net income available to common shareholders $209.5 million ($2.74 per diluted share) ↩ ↩2

  6. “UMB Financial Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results” (Business Wire, July 28, 2026). Total assets $72.3 billion and total deposits $59.8 billion at June 30, 2026; branches in Missouri, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin ↩ ↩2

  7. “Commerce Bancshares,” Wikipedia. W.T. Kemper Sr. became the bank’s first president in 1903; the family’s division between Commerce (James M. Kemper) and City Center Bank / UMB (Rufus Crosby Kemper Sr.) ↩

  8. “UMB Financial Corporation Completes Acquisition of Heartland Financial USA, Inc.” (UMB investor relations, January 31, 2025). Completion at 11:59 p.m. January 31, 2025; all-stock; ~$68 billion combined assets on December 31, 2024 figures; footprint 8 → 13 states; 197 banking centers and 350 ATMs; largest acquisition in UMB’s 111-year history; five HTLF directors added (board of 16); Mariner Kemper as chairman and CEO ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. “R. A. Long Building,” Wikipedia. 928 Grand Blvd; 16 stories, completed 1907; Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City tenancy 1914–1921; City National Bank & Trust headquarters on the first floor from 1934; building purchased 1947; UMB renovation begun 2000; enclosed elevated walkway to 1010 Grand ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. UMB Financial Corporation, Form 10-K for fiscal year 2014, “Properties” (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR). UMB Bank Building at 1010 Grand Boulevard opened July 1986, ~250,000 square feet. Direct automated retrieval of this EDGAR document failed (no response body); the Properties language was read through a search index rather than fetched in full. ↩

See also

Categories
  • Concept
  • Industry
  • Modern

On the record — ks.city/wiki/industrial-history/umb-financial · last revised 2026-08-13