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History of Peoples Bank of Kankakee County

Peoples Bank was founded as People’s Bank Marycrest with its first location opening in the Marycrest neighborhood on East Court Street in May, 1962. The bank was founded by Ford auto dealer, real estate developer, and philanthropist Romy Hammes. Romy established the bank after recognizing a need for greater local decision making, particularly when it came to loan decisions.

The bank was to operate in the spirit of our nation’s uniquely American system of community banking; a system in which local deposits are aggregated and used to lend to local businesses and families, helping to improve the local economy and the lives of its citizens. Today, little has changed from its original mission, and Peoples Bank remains deeply rooted in Kankakee County.

While in its 60+ years, the bank has stood strong during the many ups and downs of our economy, including 7 recessions. The most difficult day for the bank, its employees, and customers came Thanksgiving Friday 1972 when a devastating fire occurred at its only location on East Court Street. The headline in the Kankakee Sunday Journal read “Worst Kankakee Blaze in Decades” and it took 135 firemen and nearly one million gallons of water to finally extinguish the blaze. However, after heroic efforts of both first responders and bank employees, the bank was open for business the following Monday morning. 

Truly a family business, Romy’s son, Jerry Hammes has served as the bank’s Chairman since 1980. Jerry’s son, Jeff, has served as the bank’s president/CEO since 2000. 

Today Peoples Bank of Kankakee County operates in Bourbonnais, Kankakee and Manteno.  It remains committed to the area, providing a safe place for hard earned money and investments in local homes and businesses in the place we all call home, Kankakee County.

 

Did you know?

  • The bank was identified as “Merchants and Manufacturers State Bank” on the original documents for the charter filing. Romy Hammes changed the name in the final stages of its formation to “Peoples Bank” to be more relatable and down-to-earth. “It’s why we’re in business, for PEOPLE”, he said.

  • There is no apostrophe in Peoples Bank. Why? When the bank updated its corporate logo in 1991, the apostrophe was excluded in deference to a more streamlined logo and to make room for its change to include “of Kankakee County”. 

  • Prior to “the fire” on November 24th 1972, the bank proudly advertised that it didn’t need computers because, in the words of the bank’s chairman Romy Hammes, “customers want to deal with people, not computers”. However, a decision was made the very next day (with the enthusiastic support of its Chairman) to embrace technology and bring its customer ledgers online. Since then, Peoples Bank has always embraced technology... including becoming the first bank in the community to offer internet banking. 

  • Romy’s philanthropy is a trait that has been handed down through the generations. Today the bank donates over 5% of its profits back into the county in support of sponsorships, scholarships, and charitable giving. 

  • The bank celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2012 by planting 50 trees throughout the community. The growing trees can be found on school campuses, parks, churches, and hospitals throughout Kankakee County. Peoples Bank celebrated 60 years in the community by sponsoring the city of Kankakee’s entire 4th of July fireworks show.  It was a significant milestone the bank wanted to share with the community.   

  • While Romy only attended school through the 4th grade, he championed the importance of achieving a college education as a means for personal growth and advancement. In 1955, he donated a building to the University of Notre Dame to house its bookstore. He famously said, “Most buildings cost universities, I wanted to give to the University a building that would make money for the school.” Today, while moved from its original location, the bookstore still carries the appellation “Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore” and an off-campus satellite bookstore on the edge of campus carries the same name. While Notre Dame was the first to carry the name “Hammes,” many others were to follow when Jerry Hammes followed his father’s example. This is why you will see Hammes Bookstores located on the campuses of Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais, IL), Kankakee Community College (Kankakee, IL), Bishop Gorman High School (Las Vegas, NV), Bishop McNamara High School (Kankakee, IL), Holy Cross Junior College (Notre Dame, IN), and Marmion Military Academy (Aurora, IL).

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What You Need to Know about Overdrafts and Overdraft Fees

An overdraft occurs when you do not have enough money in your account to cover a transaction, but we pay it anyway. We can cover your overdrafts in two different ways:

  1. We have standard overdraft practices that are available after your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing.
  2. We also offer an overdraft protection plan, Overdraft Protection Sweep, a link to a savings account.  It may be less expensive than our standard overdraft practices. To learn more, ask us about this plan.

This notice explains our standard overdraft practices.

 

What are the standard overdraft practices that come with my account?

After your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing, we do authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions:

  • Checks and other transactions made using your checking account number
  • Automatic bill payments

We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions unless you ask us to (see below):

  • ATM transactions
  • Everyday debit card transactions

We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transaction.

If we do not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined.

 

What fees will I be charged if Peoples Bank of Kankakee County pays my overdraft?

Under our standard overdraft practices:

  • We will charge you a fee of up to $30 each time we pay an overdraft.
  • The maximum daily overdraft fee per presentment or item paid using the Overdraft Reserve Program is $150.00 per day.
  • No per item handling fee will be charged on de minimis overdrafts. De minimis overdraft for this policy means transactions that overdraw your account by $30 or less.
  • There is an overdraft fee of $5 per day that will be charged beginning the 4th consecutive business day your account is overdrawn.

 

Nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees - if an item drafted by you (such as a check) or a transaction you set up (such as a preauthorized transfer) is presented for payment in an amount that is more than the amount of money in your account and we decide not to pay the item or transaction, you agree that we can charge you an NSF fee for returning the payment. Be aware that such an item or payment may be presented multiple times by the merchant or other payee until it is paid, and that we do not monitor or control the number of times a transaction is presented for payment. You agree that we may charge you an NSF fee each time a payment is presented if the amount of money in your account is not sufficient to cover the payment, regardless of the number of times the payment is presented.

PAYMENT ORDER OF ITEMS - The law permits us to pay items drawn on your account in any order (for purposes of this section "items" means checks, orders and electronic transactions). To assist you in handling your account with us, we are providing you with the following information regarding how we process those items. When processing checks and orders drawn on your account our policy is to pay lower numbered checks and orders in numerical sequence, but electronic transactions are paid first in the order received. The order in which items are paid is important if there is not enough money in your account to pay all of the items that are presented. There is no policy that is favorable in every instance.  If the smallest items are paid first, you may have fewer NSF or overdraft fees, but the largest, and perhaps more important items (such as rent or mortgage payments) might not be paid. However, if the largest items are paid first, your most important items might be paid but it may increase the overdraft or NSF fees if funds are not available to pay all of the items. We think our policy attains a reasonable balance between minimizing additional costs to you and paying your more important items. We encourage you to make careful records and practice good account management. This will help you to avoid creating items without sufficient funds and incurring the resulting fees.

 

What if I want Peoples Bank of Kankakee County to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions?

If you also want us to authorize and pay overdrafts on ATM and everyday debit card transactions after your account has been open for 30 days, you may opt in.    

You have an ongoing right to change this consent at any time. If your overdraft privilege has been revoked for any reason, the opt-in or opt-out selection may not apply. Please contact your nearest office for more information.

 

Alternate ways to Opt In/Out or make changes:

  • By Phone.   Our Customer Care Representatives can be reached at 815-936-7600.
  • By Mail.   Peoples Bank of Kankakee County, 333 E. Court Street, Kankakee, IL 60901
  • In Person.  Please visit your local office and ask a representative to help you decide which plan is best for you.