Rafael Carrión, Sr.

Rafael Carrión Sr. (January 3, 1891 – March 26, 1964), the patriarch of one of Puerto Rico's financial dynasties, was one of the founding fathers of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the largest bank in Puerto Rico and the largest Hispanic bank in the United States.

Early years Carrión (birth name: Rafael Carrión Pacheco) came from a humble family, His father was José Dolores Carrión from the city of Manati and his mother was Francisca Pacheco from the town of Naguabo. His family lived in Santurce where Carrión, who was one of five siblings, was born. The family sustained themselves economically by selling water in containers. In 1896, Carrión's mother died of typhoid fever and the family moved to the City of Caguas.

In 1899, his father died and Carrión went to live with his older half-brother José B. Carrión Santiago in the City of Arecibo. His brother was a businessman who kept the accounting records of many of the local businesses. Carrión was then able to attend the Americanized public school system which taught in English and where he would learn the language. In 1902, Carrión moved to San Juan and lived with his sister. He quit school in the eighth grade and worked for various firms until he finally found a job at Lomba & Cia, an importer of goods from the United States and Europe. When the owners of the firm became aware of Carrión's English-language proficiency, they put him charge of transactions made in that language. However the United States invaded Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War in 1898, and the island was annexed by the U.S. under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 which was ratified on December 10, 1898. Almost immediately, the United States began the "Americanization" process of Puerto Rico. The U.S. occupation brought about a total change in Puerto Rico's economic and political life. Amongst the many industries appropriated and controlled by the U.S. Government, were Puerto Rico's financial and banking institutions.

In 1913, the United States Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act which created The Federal Reserve System. All national banks were required to join the system and Congress created Federal Reserve notes to provide the nation with an elastic supply of currency. The notes were to be issued to Federal Reserve Banks for subsequent transmittal to banking institutions in accordance with the needs of the public.

As a consequence of the new rules and regulations, the Sociedad Anonima de Economias y Prestamos ceased operations. In 1923 Carrión and his older brother, together with some of the former members of the Sociedad Anonima, organized and founded the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, a commercial bank (rather than a savings bank, in which Carrión served as Executive Vice President.

Four years later in 1927, Carrión became the majority stockholder of the bank, its president, and CEO.

Legacy

During his lifetime, Carrión was able to witness the growth of the bank which he co-founded from a small local bank with one branch in 1934, to the largest bank in Puerto Rico with two additional branches in New York City - one in the Bronx and another in Manhattan.