Bank of America (nyse: BAC tyo: 8648) is the second largest commercial bank in the United States by deposits and market capitalization.

It is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Corporate history

Before 1999, the Bank of America organization that exists today was known as NationsBank and was previously known in earlier years as North Carolina National Bank before being abbreviated to "NCNB" as it branched out of its home base of Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, NationsBank acquired San Francisco-based BankAmerica and renamed the corporation "Bank of America".

Bank of Italy

The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco by Amadeo Giannini in 1904, based on catering to immigrants. Amadeo was raised by the Fava/Stanghellini family when his father was shot while trying to collect on a $10.00 debt. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, Giannini was able to get all of the deposits out of the bank building and away from the fires.

In the late 1920s, Giannini approached Orra E. Monnette, President and founder of Bank of America, Los Angeles, about a merger between the two entities. The Los Angeles based bank had exhibited strong growth throughout the 1920s, due in part to its success in developing an advanced branch banking system. The merger was completed in early 1929 and took the name Bank of America. The combined company was headed by Giannini with Monnette serving as co-Chair.

Growth in California

Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company, Transamerica Corporation. The passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business. However, federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became First Interstate Bancorp, which was acquired by Wells Fargo and Company in 1996. It was not until the 1980s with a change in federal banking legislation and regulation that Bank of America was again able to expand its domestic consumer banking activity outside California.

These technologies also allowed credit cards to be linked directly to individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to VISA in 1975. A consortium of other California banks came up with Master Charge (now MasterCard) in order to compete with BankAmericard.

Expansion outside of California