For this reason, American Banker's masthead gives a founding date of 1836, though the best available evidence suggests that Johnson's paper began publication in 1842.

[8] Members of the Otis family of Boston purchased the newspaper and its sister publication, Bond Buyer, around 1910, and for several decades it remained a family-owned enterprise.

In 1936, Charles Otis announced the newspaper was marking 100 years of continuous publication by producing a century edition.

[13] Steinmann transitioned the newspapers to the computer era, and facilitated their sale in 1983 to International Thomson, from the estate of Charles Otis.

[17] As of 2024, American Banker has approximately 30 U.S.-based reporters and editors, who monitor developments and breaking news affecting the banking industry.

[18] Chana R. Schoenberger, who previously worked for Forbes, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, and The Wall Street Journal, became editor-in-chief in January 2022.

[21] Schoenberger replaced Alan Kline, a 22-year veteran of the newspaper, who was named editor-in-chief in January 2020, succeeding Rob Blackwell.

[26][28] American Banker has won frequent journalism awards including, most recently, several from the Neals:,[29] Azbees,[30] and the National Association of Real Estate Editors.