Formerly | Bank of Italy (1904–1945) |
---|---|
Company type | Public |
Industry | Banking |
Founded | October 17, 1904 |
Founder | Amadeo Giannini |
Defunct | September 30, 1998 |
Fate | Merged with NationsBank to become the Bank of America Corporation |
Parent | Transamerica Corporation |
Bank of America, formerly known as the Bank of Italy, was founded in San Francisco, California, United States, on October 17, 1904, [1] by Amadeo Pietro Giannini. By 1945, it had grown by a branch banking strategy to become the world's largest commercial bank with 493 branches in California and assets totaling $5 billion. [2]
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The Bank of Italy was established to serve working class citizens of the area, especially Italian Americans living in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The bank survived the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, [3] after Amadeo Pietro Giannini saw an approaching fire and filled the bank assets in the back of his horse-drawn cart which he rode to his San Mateo home. [3] It was one of the first banks to offer loans to businesses to help rebuild the city.
The first location of the bank was in Jackson Square in 1904; the original building is no longer standing but the location is the home of the Colombo Building (1909). [3] The Bank of Italy building was opened in 1908—which later became a National Historic Landmark. Giannini had his office space in an open area on the first floor. [2] In 1909, the bank began opening branches in other cities, beginning with San Jose. [4] It had 24 branches by 1918, [5] at which time it was the first statewide branch banking system.
The Bank of Italy merged with the smaller Bank of America, Los Angeles in 1928. [2] In 1930, Giannini changed the name from "Bank of Italy" to "Bank of America". As chairman of the new, larger Bank of America, Giannini expanded the bank throughout his tenure, which continued until his death in 1949. Giannini's life and his many innovations in banking figure prominently in Jim McKelvey, The Innovation Stack (Penguin, 2020).
Amadeo Giannini and the Bank of Italy were the basis for the classic 1932 Frank Capra movie American Madness , from the original screenplay Faith by Robert Riskin.
Bank of America merged with NationsBank of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1998. While NationsBank was the nominal survivor, the merged bank took the Bank of America name and operates under the original charter for Bank of Italy.
The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with investment banking and auxiliary headquarters in Manhattan. The bank was founded by the merger of NationsBank and Bank of America in 1998. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States and the second-largest bank in the world by market capitalization, both after JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves about 10 percent of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking.
555 California Street, formerly Bank of America Center, is a 52-story 779 ft (237 m) skyscraper in San Francisco, California. It is the fourth tallest building in the city as of February 2021, and in 2013 was the largest by floor area. Completed in 1969, the tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Transamerica Pyramid in 1972, and the world headquarters of Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank, when the company moved its headquarters to the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is currently owned by Vornado Realty Trust and The Trump Organization.
The Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The company has major offices located in Baltimore, Maryland; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Denver, Colorado; Canton, Massachusetts; Harrison, New York; Knoxville, Tennessee; Plano, Texas; St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Petersburg, Florida. Additional affiliated offices are located throughout the United States. In 1999, it became an independent subsidiary of multinational company Aegon.
Orra Eugene Monnette (1873–1936) was an attorney, author and banker. Monnette was also the founder of the Bank of America, Los Angeles
Bank of Italy is the Bank of Italy or Banca d'Italia, the central bank of Italy.
The Bank of America, Los Angeles, was established in 1923 by Orra E. Monnette, emerging from a series of mergers between Los Angeles–based banks between 1909 and 1923. The formation of BoA L.A. predates the creation of the Bank of America, merging with the Bank of Italy in 1928-29, which formed Bank of America.
The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston and Darius Ogden Mills. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, and considered instrumental in developing the American Old West.
The Brooklyn Trust Company was a bank headquartered in New York City, United States. Chartered in the then-independent city of Brooklyn in 1866, the Brooklyn Trust Company originally offered trust management and estate management services but also functioned as a commercial bank. The Brooklyn Trust Company acquired over a dozen smaller banks throughout its existence, merging with the Manufacturers Trust Company in 1950.
Union Bank was an American national bank with 398 branches in California, Washington, and Oregon. It was owned by MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and was acquired by U.S. Bancorp in December 2022. It was headquartered in New York City and had commercial branches in Dallas, Houston, New York City, and Chicago, and two international offices.
The Bank of Italy Building, also known as the Clay-Montgomery Building, is a building in San Francisco, California. This eight-story building became the headquarters of A. P. Giannini's Bank of Italy in 1908 after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed the original bank building on Montgomery Avenue in the nearby neighborhood of North Beach. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978 for its association with Giannini, who revolutionized retail banking in the early 20th century.
The Bank of Italy Building is a 14-story, 77.72 m (255.0 ft) Renaissance Revival high-rise built in 1925 in downtown San Jose, California. This building became the second home to the first branch of the Bank of Italy, founded in San Francisco in 1904, which later became the Bank of America. The first location of the Bank of Italy in San Jose, was on the corner of Santa Clara St. and Lightson Alley, near the intersection with Market Street. Restaurants and other businesses occupy the original building, which has been heavily remodeled. A reconstruction of the original building is at History Park in San Jose.
The Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics was founded in the 1920s from a $1.5 million gift to the University of California from the Bancitaly Corporation in honor of its founder, A.P. Giannini. This fund has now grown to $20 million that is used to promote and support research on the economics of California agriculture. Members, which include faculty from various University of California campuses, may apply for grants to conduct research on California's agricultural economy and development. The findings are often reported in numerous publications.
Amadeo Pietro Giannini, also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A. P. Giannini was an American banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which eventually became Bank of America. Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern banking practices. Most notably, Giannini was one of the first bankers to offer banking services to middle-class Americans, mainly Italian immigrants, rather than only the upper class. He also pioneered the holding company structure and established one of the first modern trans-national institutions.
Valley National Bank of Arizona was a bank based in Phoenix, Arizona, founded in 1900 and acquired by Bank One in 1992. The bank was one of Arizona's leading financial institutions during the 20th century and the last major independent bank in Arizona at the time of its acquisition.
Joseph Francis Sartori was a Los Angeles banker and civic leader, founder and President of Security-First National Bank, was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Country Club and the City of Torrance, and was influential in the development of the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel, Subway Terminal Building and Los Angeles Civic Center.
Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name.
Claire Giannini Hoffman was the first woman to serve on the boards of Bank of America and Sears, Roebuck & Company. She also was the only woman guest invited at international bank conference events for some two decades.
Lionello Arturo Lopes Perera was a banker, philanthropist and patron of the arts and music, active in New York at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Fugazi Bank Building, also known as the Fugazi Banca Popolare Operaia Italiana Building, and Old Transamerica Building, is a historic commercial building built in 1909, and located at 4 Columbus Avenue in the Jackson Square Historic District of San Francisco, California.
The Colombo Building, also known as the Drexler Building or Drexler-Colombo Building, is a historic commercial building built in 1913, and is located at 1–21 Columbus Avenue in the Jackson Square Historic District in San Francisco, California.