Bank of America, National Association

Bank of America was formed by the merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica in 1998. BankAmerica was founded in 1904 as the Bank of Italy. The company used to be one of the largest banks in the U.S., but lost its market share over the years. NationsBank was formed as the Commercial National Bank in 1874. Over the years it went through several mergers and formed a holding company NCNB (North Carolina National Bank). By 1980, NCNB was the largest bank in North Carolina and became the first southern bank with operations in six states. The company increased its assets in the late 1980s by buying defunct thrifts at low prices after the savings and loan scandal. In 1991, NCNB changed its name to NationsBank.