National Bank v. Kimball is a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1881. The case involved a dispute between the National Bank of Rockford, Illinois and the defendant, William Kimball. The bank had loaned Kimball money and he had given the bank a mortgage on his property as security for the loan. When Kimball failed to make payments on the loan, the bank sought to foreclose on the mortgage. Kimball argued that the bank was not authorized to do so because it was not a national bank. The Supreme Court held that the bank was authorized to foreclose on the mortgage. The Court reasoned that the National Bank Act of 1864 gave national banks the power to foreclose on mortgages. The Court also held that the bank was not required to obtain a state charter in order to exercise its power to foreclose. The Court concluded that the bank was authorized to foreclose on the mortgage and that Kimball was liable for the debt.

In National Bank v. Kimball, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a national bank could be held liable for damages caused by its negligence in failing to properly collect and pay out funds from an account belonging to two individuals. The majority opinion found that the bank was not liable because it had acted as a mere agent of the depositors and thus did not owe them any duty of care beyond what is required under agency law. Justice Field dissented, arguing that banks have a special relationship with their customers which creates an implied obligation on their part to exercise reasonable care when handling customer accounts. He argued further that this obligation should extend even if they are acting as agents for another party since banks are expected to possess greater knowledge than ordinary people about banking matters and therefore should be held accountable for any losses resulting from their negligence or mismanagement of customer accounts.