The organization that today is known as the Bank of America did start out in America, but
under quite a different name. Italian American A.P. Giannini established this bank on October 17,
1904, in a renovated saloon in San Francisco’s Italian community of North Beach under the name
Bank of Italy, with immigrants and first-time bank customers comprising the majority of his first
customers. During its development, Giannini’s bank survived major crises in the form of a natural
disaster and a major economic upheaval that not all other banks were able to overcome.
One major test for Giannini’s bank occurred on April 18, 1906, when a massive earthquake
struck San Francisco, followed by a raging fire that destroyed much of the city. Giannini obtained