Bank of America

In 1904 Amadeo Peter Giannini and five partners founded the Bank of Italy. When earthquake and fire struck San Francisco in 1906, he rescued the bank’s gold and currency. A major pioneer of branch banking, he created the holding company Transamerica Corporation in 1928 and unified a branch network under the name Bank of America of California. In 1930 the two banks merged into the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association.⁠[1]

In 1958 the bank issued BankAmeriCard, the first bank credit card. In 1968 BankAmerica Corporation was organized in Delaware as a holding company; it bought Seafirst Corporation in 1983 and Security Pacific Corporation in 1991.⁠[2]

In January 1982, NCNB under Hugh L. McColl Jr. bought First National Bank of Lake City, Florida, for $6 million, the first out-of-state acquisition by any bank. In December 1991 NCNB merged with C&S/Sovran of Norfolk for stock valued at $4.3 billion, and the new company took the name NationsBank.⁠[3]

On September 30, 1998, the former BankAmerica Corporation merged into NationsBank Corporation, the surviving company, which changed its name to BankAmerica Corporation and operates under the Bank of America name from the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte.⁠[4]

The merger was a $57 billion deal.⁠[3]

On January 24, 2001, the company announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Hugh L. McColl Jr. would retire at the annual shareholders meeting on April 25, with President Ken Lewis taking both offices upon his retirement and keeping the title of president.⁠[5]

On April 1, 2004, FleetBoston Financial Corporation merged into Bank of America, with FleetBoston common shareholders receiving 0.5553 of a Bank of America common share for each share.⁠[6]

The combined company traded under the symbol BAC and served more than 35 million households and businesses, with retail distribution in 29 states and 16,500 ATMs.⁠[7]

On January 1, 2006, Bank of America completed its merger with MBNA Corporation, whose shareholders received 0.5009 of a Bank of America share and $4.125 in cash per share. Measured by balances, the combined company became the largest credit card issuer in the United States.⁠[8]

On July 1, 2008, Bank of America completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp., exchanging 0.1822 of a Bank of America share for each Countrywide share, to create the nation’s leading mortgage originator and servicer.⁠[9]

On January 1, 2009, Bank of America completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., whose shareholders received 0.8595 of a Bank of America common share per share. The combined wealth management business had about 20,000 financial advisors and more than $2 trillion in client assets.⁠[10]

The Countrywide and Merrill Lynch acquisitions proved costly. In January 2009 the bank received $20 billion in U.S. government aid and $118 billion in guarantees against bad assets.⁠[2]

On December 9, 2009, Bank of America sent the U.S. Treasury $45 billion, repaying the government’s entire investment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) with about $19.29 billion raised from common equivalent securities and existing corporate funds.⁠[11]

On December 16, 2009, the board elected Brian Moynihan CEO effective January 1, 2010, with Ken Lewis retiring on December 31, 2009. Moynihan had joined FleetBoston Financial in 1993 and became president of Global Wealth and Investment Management after the 2004 merger.⁠[12]

On August 21, 2014, Bank of America agreed to pay $16.65 billion, including a $5 billion penalty and $7 billion in consumer relief, to resolve claims over mortgage-backed securities and mortgage origination involving Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, the largest civil settlement with a single entity in American history.⁠[13]

On October 1, 2014, the board elected Brian Moynihan chairman, effective immediately, succeeding Charles Holliday Jr., and Jack Bovender Jr. became lead independent director.⁠[14]

In July 2023 Bank of America was ordered to pay $250 million: $100 million to consumers, a $90 million penalty to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyOffice of the Comptroller of the CurrencyThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is an independent U.S. Treasury bureau that supervises national banks and other institutions.Open the full entry (OCC). The issues included repeat fees on declined transactions, withheld card rewards and card accounts opened without customers’ knowledge.⁠[15]

On September 12, 2025, Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan named Dean Athanasia and Jim DeMare co-presidents overseeing the company’s eight lines of business, while he remained chair and CEO.⁠[16]

In 2025 Bank of America’s total revenue, net of interest expense, was $113.1 billion (2024: $105.9 billion) and net income was $30.5 billion (2024: $27.0 billion), or $3.81 per diluted share. At year-end 2025, total assets were $3,410.4 billion and total deposits $2,018.7 billion.⁠[17]

At both December 31, 2025 and 2024, Bank of America employed approximately 213,000 people. Its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BAC.⁠[18]

On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Treasury imposed $1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America over anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations, including $750 million to the OCC, the largest fine that agency has imposed. Treasury said the bank admitted willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act.⁠[19]

On October 14, 2026, Bank of America announced third-quarter 2026 net income of $6.9 billion, or $0.91 per diluted share.⁠[20]

Bank of America, National Association has branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.⁠[21]