The Bank of America is an American multinational investment bank and financial services which were founded in 1998 in San Francisco through NationsBank’s acquisition of BankAmerica. Its headquarters is in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., and also provides services in New York, London, Hong Kong, Minneapolis, and Toronto.
It offers many banking services, like commercial banking and much more to the public. Amadeo Pietro Giannini founded it in 1922 in Italy. It has significant market shares, immense business activities, and a huge economic impact.
Inception
It was first known as the Bank of Italy when Giannini founded it on October 17, 1904. In 1922, Bank of America merged with Bank of Italy as a minor investor and created the now largest banking institution in the country. Giannini established a new corporation, Bancitaly Corporation, which acquired the stocks of various banks located in multiple countries in 1918.
In 1928, Giannini appointed Orra E. Monnette as the head of the bank, and he serves as co-chair with Giannini. It was named the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association on November 3, 1930. It got designated by the United States. This was a huge deal at that time because no other bank was able to do so.
In 2004, Bank of America acquired the first iteration of FleetBoston. Its eastern portion stretches back to when Massachusetts Bank was chartered in 1784. In 1958, the American Commercial Bank was formed when Commercial National Bank (established in 1874) merged with American Trust Company.
It again merged with the Security National Bank of Greensboro and was known as North Carolina National Bank in 1960. It got it’s named changed to NationsBank after merging with C&S/Sovran Corporation of Atlanta and Norfolk
Commercial National Bank and Continental National Bank of Chicago joined together to form the central portion of the franchise in 1910. It later developed gradually into Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust.
Evolution
Giannini established the bank’s first branch outside San Francisco in San Jose in 1909, shortly after California’s legislation allowed branch banking in the state. By 1929, the bank had resources of over $1.4 billion from its 453 banking offices in California. In 1953, Transamerica Corporation and the Bank of America moved apart from each other under the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the latter continued in the insurance sector.
This led to Bank of America’s domestic banks to separate, and they slowly became the First Interstate Bancorp. In 1966, it was acquired by Wells Fargo and Company. In the 1980s, Bank of America again expanded its banking activity outside California.
In 1983, Bank of America expanded its horizons outside California. It was organized by Stephen Mclin of Seafirst Corporation of Seattle, Washington. BankAmerica continued to control the functioning Seafirst until 1998. They had placed a series of bad loans in the Third World, which made them lose millions in 1986 and 1987. Sam Armacost was fired from his position as CEO and was replaced by A.W. Clausen in 1986. It faced significant loss but overcame all of it very quickly.
In 1992, BankAmerica represented the largest bank acquisition in history when it acquired Security Pacific Corporation and Security Pacific National Bank in California. West One Bancorp and KeyBank bought it’s Washington branches. Later, it extended into Nevada.
In 1994, it joined together with Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. Of Chicago. The company was positioned as the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits. In 1997, it was in second place and in 1998 it was in third place. BankAmerica was renamed as BancAmerica Robertson Stephens when BankAmerica acquired Robertson Stephens in 1997.
Merging of NationsBank and BankAmerica in 1997 led to earning of $570 billion assets in 1998.
Awards & Achievements
After JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America is the second-largest banking institution in the United States. It is one of the largest financial service companies in the world and holds the ninth position in that criteria. It is the 13th largest company in the world, with $313.5 billion market capitalization. It contains the sixth position in the requirements of the most significant American public company. On the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, it was ranked #24 by its total revenue.
Euromoney Institutional Investor named it as the “World’s Best Bank” in 2018. It is considered as the third largest investment bank in the world and the second-largest wealth manager in the world. In 1992, BankAmerica represented the largest bank acquisition in history when it acquired Security Pacific Corporation and Security Pacific National Bank in California. The company was positioned as the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits. It earned many such titles by merging and investing in many big-shot companies and banks.
Net Worth of Bank of America in 2024
As of January 2024, The net worth of Bank of America is $2.5 trillion, and it is placed at the second position in the criteria of the Largest Banks in the US by Assets.
Bank of America is a public bank which provides many services like commercial banking and much more to the public. It was founded in 1998 by Amadeo Giannini. Its headquarters is in Charlotte, North Carolina, the U.S. It has 4,600 retail financial centers and 15,900 (approx) ATMs. It has an income of $91.24 billion. Its divisions are BofA securities, Merrill, Bank of America, and Private Bank. It has a capital ratio of 11.8% in 2017.