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 through a strategy of expanding branches to become the world's largest commercial bank with 493 branches in California and assets totaling $5 billion.
History
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,[2] after Amadeo Pietro Giannini saw an approaching fire and relocated the bank assets to San Mateo home using a horse drawn cart.[2]
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