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FirstCity, American financial-services company founded in 1950 as the bankholding company First City Bancorporation of Texas, Inc. Headquarters are in Waco, Texas.
First City Bancorporation provided managerial direction, financial resource coordination, and advisory services for its various subsidiary banks. Its major subsidiary was the First City National Bank of Houston, which was established in 1956 with the merger of First National Bank in Houston (established 1866) and City National Bank of Houston (established in 1928 under a different name). The nonbank subsidiaries were involved in finance: life insurance, credit insurance, health and accident insurance, and financial data processing. Because of its emphasis on lending to oil and real estate interests, the bank had begun to fail following the collapse of oil prices in 1986; it was saved from collapse by aid from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). However, First City Bancorporation continued to experience financial troubles, and in 1992 its banks were seized by federal regulators. In 1995 the bank reemerged as FirstCity Financial Corporation.
