calsfoundation@cals.org
March 23, 1984
Simmons First National Bank in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) made banking history when a Simmons customer withdrew $285 from an automatic teller machine (ATM) in Sydney, Australia, in the world’s first intercontinental transaction made via an ATM. The bank, which was opened in 1903 by Dr. John Franklin Simmons, had (by 2007) paid dividends for ninety-nine consecutive years. The bank was the first in Arkansas to offer its customers the Bank of America credit card (now known as VISA) and has assets of over $2.7 billion.