The Bank of America Corporation which is commonly known as Bank of America is a financial services company and an investment bank founded in 1998 in San Francisco, California by Amadeo Peter Giannini. Bank of America is the 8th largest bank in the world and 2nd largest bank in terms of assets in 2020 behind JP Morgan Chase according to Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
It is included in the big 4 banking companies of the United States. One can estimate the enormity of Bank of America by the fact that around 11% of bank deposits of the United States are in this bank. The major financial services provided by Bank of America are investment banking, wealth management, and commercial banking.
The bank is also included in the top 10 companies of the United States in Fortune 500. Its ranked No. 5th on Fortune 500 companies and among banks, it is ranked 1st. There are around 4,600 Bank of America locations in the United States.
Bank of America Corporation on Map
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| Title | Category | Address | Description | Link | Address | Phone Number |
|---|
General Information
| HQ: | 100 N Tryon St STE 170, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
| Zip Code: | 28202 |
| Traded as: | NYSE: BAC |
| Industry: | Financial services |
| ISIN: | US0605051046 |
| Founded: | 1956 |
| Founders: | Amadeo Giannini (BankAmerica); Hugh McColl (NationsBank) |
| Area served: | Worldwide |
| Products: | Asset management, banking, commodities, credit cards, equities trading, insurance, investment management, mortgage loans, mutual funds, private equity, risk management, wealth management |
| Owners: | Berkshire Hathaway (11.9%); The Vanguard Group (7.1%) and BlackRock (6.2%) |
| Divisions: | BofA Securities, Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank |
| Website: | www.bms.com |
| Business data: | Google Finance / Yahoo! Finance / SEC filings |
What is Bank of America?
Bank of America is a financial service provider and investment bank of the United States. It is one of the earliest banks in the United States. Bank of America was formally founded in 1998 but its roots go back to 1923 when the Bank of Italy was founded. If we look at the total assets of the bank, it has around $2.2 billion which makes it the second-largest bank in the United States.
Although, it is not the largest one, Bank of America has the title of “Banking Technology Leader”. The bank has incorporated modern technology which insures its future success.
Where is Bank of America headquarters located?
The headquarters of Bank of America is situated in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The detailed address is “Bank of America Corporate Center, 100 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255, United States”.
How do I contact Bank of America corporate?
You can contact the customer support of Bank of America by using this 001-315-724-4022 phone number. You can make the call on this phone number at any time and any day. If you are not from the United States, then you would have to use the 800 access code from your country of origin.
Does Bank of America have chat support?
Yes, chat support of Bank of America is available related to almost all products and services. But for some services, chat support is not available. You can find the chat link on their website.
How can I talk to a real person at Bank of America?
You can talk to a person at Bank of America by scheduling an appointment with an agent or by calling them at this 844-375-7028 phone number.
History
The Bank of America Corporation was firstly founded in 1923 in Los Angeles but in 1928, The Bank of America was acquired by a well-known bank of that time, Bank of Italy. Bank of Italy was founded by Amadeo Peter Giannini in San Francisco, United States. It was specifically founded to cater to European Americans who could not get financial services from other banks.
After two years of acquiring, The Bank of Italy got the name “Bank of America”. In 1918, Bancitaly Corporation started acquiring various local banks of New York. Bancitaly Corporation was under the management of Giannini.
In 1922, Bank of America, Los Angeles was founded and Giannini invested in it. After this, in 1928, Giannini merged the Bancitaly Corporation with the Bank of America, Los Angeles. Bank of America, at that time, was the only designated bank in the United States.
In 1909, new legislation allowed banks to make their branches and expand themselves so, The Bank of America also established the first branch in San Jose and expanded in California. By 1929, there were 453 Bank of America locations in California and it was a huge success for the company.
Then, the era of technology started and Bank of America also wanted to be a part of it so, it introduced its debit card named BankAmericard in 1958. The name of this card was replaced with “Visa Card” in 1977. MasterCard was also founded during this time.
The expansion of Bank of America outside California took place in 1983. It started acquiring other small banks for this purpose. In 1992, The Bank of America acquired Security Pacific Corporation and other small banks in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Arizona. It was, at that time, the largest bank acquisition.
It also acquired FleetBoston Financial in 2004. FleetBoston was included in the top 10 largest banks of that time. Through these acquisitions, The Bank of America Corporation made a monopoly in the market and because of that, today, it is one of the most successful banks in the United States.
Profile
The Bank of America Corporation is the second-largest banking company in the United States. The company is very clear about its goals, missions, and what it wants to achieve in the short and long term. When this bank initially started, the baking facilities in the world were not as common as they are now.
So, the bank was solely founded to help people of America in their financials, provide adequate financial services and facilities, and make their lives easier. Bank of America is still striving to achieve these goals by expanding and advancing its financial services.
Bank of America CEO and Key Executive Team:
| Names | Roles |
| Brian Moynihan | Chairman of The Board, Chief Executive Officer |
| Raul A. Anaya | President, Business Banking |
| Catherine P. Bessant | Chief Operations and Technology Officer |
| Dean Athanasia | President, Consumer and Small Business |
| Sherry B. Bronstein | Chief Human Resources Officer |
| Source: investor.bankofamerica.com, about.bankofamerica.com, newsroom.bankofamerica.com | |
All Corporate Locations for Bank of America
What makes Bank of America successful?
Bank of America is known for the acquisitions it has made in past. Throughout its presence, the bank kept on including new services in its portfolio by acquisitions to make banking and finance convenient for its customers. Another benefit that Bank of America got by acquiring other small banks was the expansion. The reason why 4,300 baking branches and 17,000 ATMs is also its acquiring strategy.
Integration of modern technology into banking also is a key factor why Bank of America is successful. Artificial intelligence has allowed the Bank to provide ultimate financial services to its customers. Bank of America founded Erica, MGI, and Zelle.
All of these smart financial services are based on Artificial intelligence. In a nutshell, we can say that Bank of America had clear goals, perfect leadership, and it adapted to the modern world quickly. All of these things made it a successful bank.
How Does Bank of America Make Money?
Bank of America mainly works in five business segments. These are business and consumer banking, global banking, real estate services, global markets, and investment management. The main income of Bank of America comes from providing financial services to ordinary people, high net-worth individuals, institutions, and governments.
Also, most of its revenue comes from the United States as it is its primary location. In 2020, the largest share of revenue of Bank of America came from consumer banking. Due to the economic crisis of the pandemic, the bank currently is going into a loss since the start of 2020.
Top Companies Owned by Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation has made tons of acquisitions since it was founded. Here we will be discussing the 6 largest companies acquired by Bank of America.
1. Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is an investment management company founded in 1914 in New York, United States. In the early 2000s, Merrill Lynch was going through huge losses and it was about to file bankruptcy in 2008 because of the liquidity crisis.
Bank of America in September 2008, announced that they are talks to acquire Merrill Lynch for $38.25 billion. The company was acquired on 1st January 2009 at a price of around $50 billion. So far, it is the largest acquisition made by Bank of America.
2. U.S. Trust
According to Bank of America, U.S. Trust was one of the largest and most respected wealth management companies. U.S. Trust was founded in 1953 to provide financial services to high net-worth individuals.
In 2007, it was acquired by Bank of America from Charles Schwab Corporation. The acquisition price was $3.3 billion. Before this acquisition, U.S Trust had $94 billion as assets of its clients. U.S. Trust is now known as Bank of America Private Bank.
3. Countrywide Financial
Countrywide Financial was founded in 1969 in Charlotte, North Carolina, the United States as a mortgage services provider company. It is now known as BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP, and works as the mortgage unit of Bank of America.
During the 2008 recession, the financial situation of Countrywide Financial disturbed drastically and it led to its acquisition. It was acquired by Bank of America on 1st July 2008 at an estimated price of $4 billion.
4. FleetBoston Financial
FleetBoston Financial was a Boston-based bank founded in 1999 to provide financial and insurance services. In 2004, it was acquired by Bank of America. This acquisition made Bank of America, the second-largest banking company.
The acquisition price of FleetBoston Financial was $45.5 billion. After the acquisition, all of the branches of FleetBoston Financial were converted into the branches of Bank of America.
5. LaSalle Bank
LaSalle Bank was acquired by BOA from ABM AMRO Holding NV in 2007. LaSalle Bank was a subsidiary of ABM AMRO Holding NV. The bank was acquired at the price of $21 billion. This acquisition made it much easier for Bank of America to expand in the United States.
LaSalle Bank had 265 corporate offices and hundreds of banking centers throughout the country. All of them were rebranded as Bank of America locations.
6. Axia Technologies
It was a medical technology and payment processing company. It was founded for the provision of a platform for health care payments and to ensure secure patient payments in the country. It was one of the leading companies in this field.
Bank of America acquired it in 2021 and the price of this acquisition has not yet been revealed. The acquisition of Axia Technologies shows that Bank of America has a plan to enter into the medical payments market in the future.
What technologies does Bank of America use?
Technology has always been the strongest weapon of Bank of America. The only reason why this bank survived the early 2000 recession, great recession, and Covid-19 recession is technology. During the technological revolution in America, Bank of America adopted it smartly, and now, they are huge benefits of that adoption. Following are the technologies used by Bank of America:
1. Erica
Erica is a controlled artificial intelligence-based personal financial assistant founded by Bank of America. Any questions related to your financials? Well, Erica is here to help. You can get any type of financial assistance from Erica.
It works like a chatbot and also supports voice chat. Erica works on artificial intelligence but in a very controlled and managed way.
2. Merrill Guided Investment (MGI)
Merrill Guided Investment (MGI) is a smart online tool provided by the Bank of America which helps in portfolio management. It uses advanced technology to recommend investment strategies. MGI is a very helpful service for small investors.
3. Zelle
Zelle is the second PayPal but with additional helpful features. Zelle is another amazing financial service provided by Bank of America. The typical use of Zelle is to send and receive money from anyone. Besides this, there is much more functionality in Zelle.
Top 5 biggest Bank of America competitors or Alternative
1. JPMorgan Chase & Company
JPMorgan Chase & Company is an international bank and a financial company founded in 2000 in the United States. It is America’s largest bank and the world’s fifth-largest having total assets of over $3.5 trillion.
JPMorgan Chase is also included in the big four banks along with Bank of America.
2. Wells Fargo & Company
Wells Fargo & Co is an American financial services company and a bank founded in Minneapolis, the United States in 1929. With over 70 million customers worldwide, it is one of the largest rivals of Bank of America.
It is the third-largest bank in the United States.
3. Citigroup Inc.
Citigroup Inc. is an investment company as well as a bank. It was founded in 1998 by Samuel Osgood and Stanford Weill.
The bank is ranked 4th in the big four banks of the United States. Citigroup Inc. is also ranked at 33rd in Fortune 500 in 2021. It has operations in over 160 countries.
4. Truist Financial
Truist Financial is an American bank holding company in 2019. It was founded by the merger of BB&T and SunTrust in 2019.
Truist Financial has $509 billion as assets making it the 10th largest bank in the United States.
5. Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is a banking company founded in 1994 in the United States. Capital One mainly focuses on technology banking. Capital One is the second-largest automobile finance company in the United States.
It is ranked on the Fortune 500 but it is not that big of a rival of Bank of America.
Fun Facts About Bank of America
1. It was not founded in 1998
Bank of America was founded in 1923 but 1928, it was acquired by the Bank of Italy. Bank of Italy got the name “Bank of America” after two years.
2. Leader of banking technology
In the matter of assets, Bank of America is not the largest bank in the United States but it is the leader of banking technology. Bank of America was ranked as the best bank in incorporating technology and this is also a reason for its popularity.
3. The largest number of ATM’s
Bank of America has acquired tons of companies and banks and because of that, it has expanded very rapidly. Today, this bank has around 17,000 ATMs throughout the United States.
4. Share buyback
Bank of America buys its shares back at a low valuation. It has spent more than $12 billion in repurchasing its shares. It is also a great reason to invest in the company.
5. Title of world’s best bank
In 2018, Bank of America got the title of “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney Institutional Investor. Although, Bank of America is not the largest it is the most popular and most reputed bank in the United States.
Is Bank of America stock a good buy when considering long-term investments?
The current Bank of America stock price in October 2021, is around $45 but it is considered one of the most volatile stocks. In the first quarter of 2002, its stock price fell to $19 from $35 because of the economic recession due to pandemic.
If we look at the long-term investment, we can surely say that The Bank of America Corporation has been growing since it was founded and in the future, its stock will be very profitable.
In the last 5 years, Bank of America stock price has tripled. So, if you are considering doing a long-term investment, buying its stock and holding it can make you a lot of money.
However, if you want to invest in the company to create a passive income source from the dividends, you should reconsider it. The dividend on the common stock of Bank of America is around $0.21 per share.
You would have to purchase 1000 stocks to get a steady income of around $200. The dividend price on Bank of America stock is less as compared to other banks.
FAQ:
1. Can I buy stocks directly from Bank of America?
Yes, by using their direct purchase plan, you can buy stocks directly from Bank of America. This is a more convenient way of buying their stocks.
2. Does Bank of America pay dividends?
Yes, Bank of America does pay dividends on their stocks. The dividend amount per share is around $1.75 on Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Series B. As of October 1st, 2021, the dividend yield of Bank of America is 1.95%.
3. Who is the auditor of Bank of America?
PricewaterhouseCoopers is the auditor of Bank of America. In 2019, the bank paid around $57 million as the audit fee.
4. Is Bank of America a good place to work?
It should not be surprising for us to know that Bank of America is ranked in the Fortune 100 list of best corporations to work for in 2021. The bank is being ranked on this list for three years.
5. Does Bank of America have 24/7 customer service?
The customer support services of Bank of America are available 24/7 and 7 days a week. Their customer support is one of the best.
6. What is the one 800 number for Bank of America?
If you are going to make an international call, you should be using an 800 access code from your country of origin, for routing see complete list here.
7. Is Bank of America international?
Yes, Bank of America is an international bank working in over 30 countries and territories. The bank works in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Middle Eastern countries.
Final Thoughts
We discussed The Bank of America Corporation in this article in detail. You may have got the idea of the enormity and prosperity of the bank after reading this article. Bank of America is working in several fields of financials and it is also considered an industry leader although it is not the largest bank in the United States.
The future goals of Bank of America and the projections which show that these goals are very likely to be achieved look much more interesting. They are currently working on a lot of things which will make it more successful in the future.
