First National Bank in Plant City v. Dickinson

Florida state law prohibited all branch banking by state-chartered banks. All business of a bank was to be carried out at the bank’s principal place of business. Under the McFadden Act, a national bank could establish a branch in a state only if the state permitted state-chartered banks to establish branches. First National Bank in Plant City, Florida (First National) (plaintiff) was a national bank. First National sought permission from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (US comptroller) to operate an armored-car messenger service and an off-premises receptacle for receipt of cash or checks for deposit. The messenger service collected deposits and delivered them to the bank. The messenger service also collected the deposits from the off-premises receptacle each day and delivered them to the bank. The US comptroller issued two letters authorizing the provision of these two services by First National. The letters instructed First National on how to structure service contracts for the deposit transactions so that the deposits occurred upon receipt by First National at its principal place of business rather than at the time of transfer of possession. At some point, Dickinson (defendant), the comptroller of Florida sent a letter to First National, stating that the armored-car messenger service and the off-premises receptacle violated Florida’s prohibition on branch banking. The Florida comptroller requested that First National stop the operation of the two services. Subsequently, First National sued the Florida comptroller, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court granted judgment for First National. The court of appeals reversed. First National appealed.