1st Franklin Financial traces its business history to 1941. Its corporate history identifies Franklin Discount Company as its former name and a change to 1st Franklin Financial Corporation in 1983.
Read the source: 1FFC · Official company history
A Georgia history
The Toccoa-based company’s history predates the 2018 closure of Franklin First Financial Ltd. by decades. SEC filings provide a separate history of company filings that can be checked alongside the company’s own account.
Continue: Who Owns 1st Franklin Financial?
A name change is not the same as a new lender
Franklin Discount Company’s renaming is part of the Georgia company’s history. It does not establish a renaming, purchase or reorganization of the similarly named Melville mortgage lender.
Continue: 1st Franklin Financial: Annual Reports and Filings
Date network figures
Branch totals in company pages, directories and annual reports can differ because of openings, closures and publication dates. For a specific office today, use a verified branch listing rather than a historical company-wide count.
Continue: Franklin First vs. 1st Franklin: Which Company Do You Mean?
Where the histories separate
Georgia business begins
The history of the company now named 1st Franklin Financial begins.
A documented name change
Franklin Discount Company becomes 1st Franklin Financial Corporation.
A separate mortgage story
Merrill Lynch acquires First Franklin; the mortgage operation later shuts down.
Franklin First civil settlement
DOJ announces a civil resolution involving the Melville lender.
Melville lender stops originating
NYDFS documents Franklin First Financial Ltd.’s origination closure.
Frequently asked questions
When did the company begin?
Its official history dates the business to 1941.
Did it start after Franklin First closed in 2018?
No. The documented Georgia history is much older, and both companies appear separately in a 2016 regulator report.
Sources
Read the original documents and company pages behind this guide.
- 1FFC · Official company history www.1ffc.com · reviewed October 16, 2026
- SEC EDGAR · 1st Franklin Financial Corporation, 2025 annual report www.sec.gov · reviewed October 16, 2026
- Georgia Department of Banking and Finance · July 2016 report (PDF) dbf.georgia.gov · reviewed October 16, 2026
