Bank of America

Type: Public (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 )
Founded: (as 'Bank of Italy') San Francisco, CA (1928)
Headquarters: Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S
Key people: Kenneth D. Lewis, Chairman, CEO & President, Amy W. Brinkley, Global Risk Executive
Industry: Banking
Products: Financial Services
Website: www.bankofamerica.com

General Information

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. Bank of America is the largest American company (by market capitalization) that is not part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. On July 19, 2006, Bank of America reported second quarter 2006 net income of $5.48 billion, surpassing that of Citigroup for the first time.

Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market and continues to buy businesses in the US. The core of Bank of America’s strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions. As a result of its mergers and acquisitions, Bank of America is now the largest issuer of credit, debit and prepaid cards in the world based on total purchase volume, as well as the largest consumer and small business bank in the United States.

Social Responsibility

In the mid 2000s, Bank of America began accentuating its charitable side. In addition to its new eco-friendly office tower in Manhattan, Bank of America has pledged to spend billions on commercial lending and investment banking for projects that it considers 'green.' The corporation, which already supplied all of its employees with cash incentives to buy hybrid vehicles, is also helping its customers be eco-friendly by rolling out a new credit card program in 2007 that would donate money to helping the environment, as well as providing mortgage loan breaks for customers whose homes qualified as energy efficient.

In addition to trying to help the environment, Bank of America has also donated money to help health centers in Massachusetts and made donations to help homeless shelters in Miami.