Donna Thomas ready for retirement after 45 years of banking
Wed, 01/21/2026 - 3:47pm
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CRESCO - After 45 years, Donna Thomas is finally seeking the good life . . . retirement!
Having worked in the banking business since the early 80s and spent 30 of those years serving as Market President of Cresco Bank & Trust Co., Thomas will be leaving the day-to-day responsibilities at the financial facility.
It was evident that she made an impact on Cresco and the surrounding area, as a special event was held by the bank this past Thursday night (Jan. 15) with long lines in place just to visit with the retiree.
The bank was honoring the long term employee who has seen many changes––for the better––in the business!
“I started at the bank in January, 1981 as Donna Mahr and was assigned to run the proof machine, which was used to code checks and deposits,” stated Thomas, who had been selling water beds through a business she co-owned before being asked to become a banker. “Back then we would look up account numbers on a rolodex to find a newly assigned account number by reading the signature on the check. The bank, fortunately at that time, was moving away from ledger posting accounts.”
Banking In The 80s Was Difficult
In the 80s customers would let a retailer know which bank they banked with. The clerk would get a blank check from under their register and then the customer wrote the check with no account number on the check.
“Some signatures were hard to read,” Thomas continued on what banking was like 45 years earlier. “Prior to this, the checks were filed alphabetically by last name. Around the time I started, customers were starting to order their own checks with their name on them so they could shop out of the area. Credit cards were not used much. People used Travelers Checks when leaving the area, which they could purchase at the bank.”
The 80s were turbulent times and banks began to offer a NOW account, which paid interest on their checking account, allowing for a 5% earning on your account balance.
“We were offering CD’s at 17% or more. Loan rates were 20-21% or more.”
Computers were non-existant, and using microfilm came in to play, allowing items filmed and kept on reels of microfilm.
“If we had to look up something, it was not easy to find the item. We stored the film by date in envelopes,” she added. “Each day we received a ‘cash letter’ from the Federal Reserve in Des Moines by a courier service. The ‘cash letter’ was how we sent out checks our customers brought to us in their deposit and the way we received checks our customers had written out of the area. We had a daily exchange with the local bank, CUSB, and they would come to us with items and a check if they owed us or we had a check ready if we owed them. This was the difference between the checks in the local ‘cash letter.’
Each month we switched off who was the carrier to make the exchange and this helped both banks with savings, rather then sending through the Des Moines Federal Reserve and paying them handling fees.”
The two banks did this for several years until imaging became available and the physical check was no longer returned to the customer.
Some interesting notes of the 80s
• Checks were cancelled with heavy duty hole puncher so customers could not resubmit that check.
• Checks had customers’ full name, social security numbers and their address on the check.
“Yes, social security numbers,” pointed out Thomas. “If you didn’t have it on your check the clerks at most stores would ask for your phone number and SSN and you would freely give it out. There was not much fraud back then! Wow, has that changed.”
• If you wrote a bad check (NSF) the bank would return to the retailer. Sometimes retailers would hang the check up near their cash register for the world to see, but mostly so that the clerks would not accept another check from that customer.
• Overdraft fees were $1 to $3 per check. Today most banks charge $30 and up. Often the store would have a sur-charge ($5 to $20) when you came to pay the bounced check at their facility, finally getting that check off their register or window.
• The bank returned your checks to you each month in your bank statement.
“We printed, folded and stuffed these by hand, carefully making sure we put the right checks with the right statements. If we wanted to message or advertise to our customers, we would put a flyer in with their statement, which we would hand-stuff as well.”
Computers, ATMs & Internet
The computer age was right around the corner and banks were wanting “change” for the better with more accurate and reliable checking, savings and CD accounts.
“When we received our first computer form our holding company in Des Moines, we had to start assigning account numbers to our savings accounts and CDs,” pointed out Thomas. “Previously we had kept track on our ledger sheets. This was a big task as we had no idea how to use the big black box (computer) they just sent us. It did make life easier as time evolved and it wasn’t connected to the internet . . . it was merely a tool to use within our bank to replace the ledger sheets.”
The bank then started to use tickets that ran through the proof machine to move money around within the bank’s general ledger.
“We would have a stack of tickets that were filled out each day to balance every account, every general ledger and every cash drawer. We were required to balance everything by the end of the day and all stayed until we were balanced.”
At the end of the month, it was a huge task for the bank to hand calculate interest earned and interest paid on each account and each loan account,” noted Thomas. “Then we would make entries to move the interest accordingly and rebalance the bank to be sure everything was in balance.”
At some point, the computer eventually was able to do this balancing for them.
“We could look up accounts on the microfilm and see the balances. We only had one reader, so we took turns looking into it for customer balance information.”
Finally, computers started to evolve and employees could type in a name or account number and magically find the account.
“There was still no internet, but tax machines were used to send data between our banks and our correspondent banks,” added Thomas. “Once the internet came along it was used once a day. Granted, dial-up took a long time, but once online the data was transmitted.”
• ATMs were just becoming an easy way to access cash and check your balance.
“We had an ATM at the Howard County Fair booth for a few years to show people how easy it was to use. People were just amazed by this new technology. It’s hard to believe that customers today have access to their accounts on their cell phones or other personal devices.”
Thomas noted that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is coming, and she can only imagine where that will take banking.
• Loans have also changed over the years.
“When a customer borrowed money the loan agreement was likely only about a 1/3 sheet of paper with loan terms on the front and grid on the back for the bank to record your payment. We broke out interest and principal and the remaining principal balance by hand. We wrote this on your copy and on the banks. Very manual process.”
• For Certificate of Deposits, the bank would type up customer CDs at the teller line on duplicate paper so customers could keep a copy and we kept a copy at the bank. Customers were required to bring back the CD paperwork when cashing it in. We posted rates in the bank lobby on a big blackboard and had to change it manually when rates changed, which was often daily.”
Today, you can go to their website for information and to access online banking info.
• Lobby traffic also changed as customers would get a check from their employer, from social security or from selling farm products.
“This meant that every transaction was handled in the bank or at the bank drive-up. SS checks came in everyone’s mailbox on the 3rd of each month, so that was a very busy day. We had retired tellers come in to help us out on those days.”
• Friday nights were also “late night” hours for the entire staff, closing at 3 p.m. but then opening up from 6 to 9 p.m.
“Friday was a busy night around town and all the stores stayed open. We would balance the books when we closed at 3 p.m. and let the staff go eat and reopen at 6 p.m. The entire staff worked those hours. We would make loans, put CD’s together, make loan payments, deposited into accounts, prepare savings bonds and cashed checks. Most farmers came to town back then to get supplies and do their banking.”
She noted that employees were unable to go to football, basketball games, or wrestling meets. “Later, we started opening up on Saturday mornings versus Friday nights, which made life better as a parent.”
• Eventually direct deposit came into play with social security and area employers for payroll. “It was the beginning of less traffic in the lobby, but not as slow as today.”
• Telephone banking was a crazy new developement where customers could call an 800 number to check their account balance. “That was the beginning of customers moving from talking to humans to technology.”
Now, in 2026, you can take a photo of a check with their phone and deposit it into their account, move money, make payments, check balances and get cash from the ATM. Cresco Bank & Trust currently has much to offer, including debit cards, online statements, card controls, Zelle, online account opening, online chats, online loan applications, text alerts, cash recyclers, and all the internal banking technology that employees use every day to complete their jobs at the bank.
“It’s been an amazing experience for me to witness the changes that have happened within the banking industry,” stated Thomas of her 4.5 decades of banking. “Was truly blessed to work with so many great people over the years during these many changes.”
Many Different Bank Names
When Thomas started in 1981, the bank was Cresco National Bank, which was one of 13 banks in the Central Bank Holding Company out of Des Moines. Later that year it was changed to United Central Bank of Cresco (UCB).
In 1985 the name was changed to First Interstate Bank of Cresco (using the name as a franchise name).
