The bank can trace its roots back to 1835 when Kristiansunds Sparebank was created. During the 1960s Kristiansunds Sparebank merged with some other local savings banks. In 1973 the two banks in Kristiansund merged with each other in addition to Øre and Smølen and changed its name to Nordmøre Sparebank. In 2000 the bank took the brand name SpareBank 1 when it joined the SpareBank 1 alliance and changed its juridical name to Sparebanken Nordvest. The bank also took over VÅR Bank's operations in Møre and Romsdal when it was bought by SpareBank 1. The bank markets itself as SpareBank 1 Ålesund in Ålesund.