First Bank of Berne on Your Credit Report
In short: First Bank of Berne runs a state-chartered commercial bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System out of Berne, Indiana. The FDIC records certificate 9288 with a charter date of October 21, 1891 — a nineteenth-century institution by the FDIC's own dating. The 06/30/2026 call report shows $1.09 billion in total assets spread across 7 FDIC-reported offices. Because First Bank of Berne originates and keeps its own loans, it furnishes the tradeline directly — which means you can dispute with the bank under §623 and with the bureaus under §611 at the same time. Information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable can be disputed under the FCRA. Outcomes depend on what the furnisher can verify, and results vary.
Who First Bank of Berne actually is
Charter details above are from the FDIC BankFind public database.
What makes this creditor different
First Bank of Berne holds FDIC certificate 9288, chartered October 21, 1891 in Berne, Indiana (135 years old), and reported $1.09 billion in total assets across 7 offices on the 06/30/2026 call report.
How First Bank of Berne appears on your credit report
First Bank of Berne is an original creditor, not a collector, and that changes the mechanics. At 7 offices the reporting function is handled by a handful of people rather than an automated dispute mill, so precision in your letter matters more than volume. Identify the account by last four digits and open date, say precisely which field is wrong, and run the bureau dispute in parallel rather than sequentially. Whether anything changes depends on the underlying records, and that varies by account.
Names it may report under
Products that commonly show up
- ◆Personal and installment loans originated in-branch
- ◆Residential mortgage and home-equity lending in Indiana
- ◆Consumer accounts originated across its 7 Indiana offices
Grounds to dispute a First Bank of Berne entry
Each of these is a reason a First Bank of Berne tradeline may be inaccurate or unverifiable. None of them assures removal — they are the angles worth checking on your own report.
- ◆Loan paid off at closing but still showing a balance with First Bank of Berne
- ◆Settled-for-less account reported by First Bank of Berne as a full charge-off
- ◆Single First Bank of Berne loan appearing twice after a systems migration
- ◆Account balance or credit limit reported incorrectly
- ◆Payment reported late when it was made inside the grace period
- ◆Date of first delinquency re-aged to extend how long it can report
- ◆Account still reporting as open after it was closed, or vice versa
- ◆Duplicate tradeline for the same account after an internal transfer
- ◆Account belongs to someone else with a similar name, or is the result of identity theft
Disputing an original creditor is not the same as disputing a collector
First Bank of Berne is an original creditor — the institution whose name was on the account when it was opened. That matters for two reasons. First, the FDCPA, which governs debt collectors, generally does not apply to a creditor collecting its own debt in its own name, so the “debt validation” request that works against a collection agency is not the right tool here. Second, as the furnisher of the tradeline, First Bank of Berne has direct obligations under FCRA §623 to investigate a dispute you send it and to correct or delete information it cannot verify as accurate.
Dispute with the bureaus — FCRA §611
File with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They must generally investigate within 30 days and tell the furnisher. Free, and you can do it yourself.
Dispute with the furnisher — FCRA §623
Send First Bank of Berne a direct written dispute. It must investigate and must not continue reporting information it knows is inaccurate. Keep copies and proof of delivery.
First Bank of Berne questions, answered
Is First Bank of Berne FDIC-insured, and what is its certificate number?
Yes — deposits are FDIC-insured under certificate 9288. That record lists First Bank of Berne as a state-chartered commercial bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System headquartered in Berne, IN, chartered October 21, 1891, with $1.09 billion in assets across 7 FDIC-reported offices on the 06/30/2026 call report.
Who regulates First Bank of Berne, and where do I escalate if a dispute fails?
As a state-chartered commercial bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System, First Bank of Berne answers primarily to the Federal Reserve and its state banking regulator, with FDIC deposit insurance. When a §623 dispute to the bank and a §611 dispute to the bureaus both come back verified and you still hold contrary documentation, the next steps are a CFPB complaint and, if needed, the private right of action FCRA §§616–617 gives you. None of that requires paying anyone.
How many credit-card complaints does the CFPB show against First Bank of Berne?
No number is published here. When we queried the CFPB credit-card complaint data, no company key matched First Bank of Berne exactly, and we will not approximate one by partial-name matching — that routinely pulls in unrelated companies with similar names. Rather than imply a count we cannot source, we leave it out. The database is public and searchable at consumerfinance.gov.
How long can a First Bank of Berne charge-off stay on my credit report?
Roughly seven years, counted from the date of first delinquency — the missed payment on the First Bank of Berne account that was never brought current. Charging off, selling or transferring the balance does not restart that clock, and a First Bank of Berne entry whose delinquency date moves forward has been re-aged.
What is the difference between disputing with First Bank of Berne and disputing with a collector?
It comes down to who holds the paperwork. First Bank of Berne has the signed application and the full payment ledger; an assignee typically received a summary file. A §623 dispute to First Bank of Berne therefore reaches the only party able to verify the detail from source.
Does First Bank of Berne report to all three credit bureaus?
Furnishing is voluntary under the FCRA, so a 7-office bank may report to one, two or all three bureaus. Pull all three reports before assuming First Bank of Berne made an error — a balance that differs by cycle is normal, while a status or delinquency-date difference is worth a dispute.
First Bank of Berne was acquired or changed names — why does my report show two accounts?
A single account showing twice is a classic conversion artifact. When First Bank of Berne migrates an account between core systems or through an acquisition, the old and new furnisher names can both persist. Ask for deletion of the duplicate, not a closed-status update — a closed duplicate still counts against utilization. In this case, a charter from the 1800s was kept on paper ledgers for most of its life, and the eventual migration to electronic reporting is a frequent source of date errors.
Can I dispute First Bank of Berne reporting myself, without paying anyone?
You can, free of charge. The FCRA gives you the §611 and §623 routes directly; hiring help is optional, never required. Send First Bank of Berne a letter naming the one field at issue, send the bureaus the same, and retain proof of mailing. What happens next depends on the records, and results vary.
What should I check first on First Bank of Berne reporting?
Start with the date of first delinquency, then the account status, then the high balance or limit — those three drive both the seven-year clock and the scoring weight. Given that a charter from the 1800s was kept on paper ledgers for most of its life, and the eventual migration to electronic reporting is a frequent source of date errors, pull your own statements and check the First Bank of Berne entry field by field. One documented error beats a broad removal request every time.
Other creditors on credit reports
This page is general information about consumer rights, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Crowned Credit is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by First Bank of Berne; company names are used only to identify the institution a consumer may see on a credit report. Crowned Credit does not promise any particular outcome; results vary by individual circumstances and by what a furnisher is able to verify. Accurate, verifiable information generally cannot be removed from a credit report. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information yourself, for free, directly with the credit bureaus and with the furnisher.
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