Bank of America is the largest bank in the United States. According to the 2010 annual report, the bank has revenues of more than $150.450 billion and net income is $2.238 billion. This is easily the largest employer in the banking sector, with over 286,951 employees in 2010. The bank is quite healthy as total assets are worth over $2.265 trillion, with capital of just $231.444 billion.
Bank of America is not only included among the top five companies in the United States, but also the second largest company that is not related to the oil business. According to Forbs and Fortune 500, BOA is the third best organization working in the banking sector in the world. The participation of banks in the local deposit market also exceeds 12.2%. The BOA holding company also includes prestigious institutions such as Merrill Lynch, which it acquired in 2008.
BOA was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini as the Bank of Italy. This humble organization in San Francisco with the goal of providing banking services to immigrants. In 1906 during the San Francisco earthquake. The fire burned down the organization’s building, but the bank began work soon after with the funds in the vaults that survived. The beginning of the banking sector was quite simple.
BOA’s first office was quite humble as there were only two makeshift tables created by the barrels. The bank grew and in 1918 the bank changed its name to Bank of America and Italy. The next chapter in BOA’s history occurred in 1927 when it became the largest institute after consolidation with Liberty Bank of Los Angeles.
Recent years have seen the growth of BOAs in the western states with California as a base. The BOA also began to function as an insurance institution at this time. In 1956 the insurance business was separated as a result of the Banking and Holding Law. Transamerica was BOA’s insurance partner that continued to work in that business after the split.
BOA was the first bank to introduce Visa credit cards en masse in 1975 with the help of a consortium of other banks. In the 1980s, the BOA moved beyond California and began operations as a national bank. The company’s prestige and holding company also increased after the acquisition of companies such as Bancorp.
The bank faced many problems, including major losses in 1983 as well. The result of the struggle of the following years led to the sale of the organization to Deutsche Bank in 1987. The next important step was the merger of BOA and Nations Bank, which was highly successful in creating the largest banking organization.