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1791
The U.S. charters the First Bank of the United States—the government's first attempt at a central bank. -
1799 Fund
A group of New York investors establishes the Bank of Manhattan to fund the construction of a water supply for New York City. The state of New York charters the bank. -
1816: Banks for Everyone
The first mutually owned savings banks in the United States—the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society and Boston’s Provident Institution for Savings—are chartered. Similar institutions follow in New York, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn. With philanthropists contributing the initial capital, the banks served depositors of modest means, providing the most secure savings outlet available. -
1819: Reining in the Second Bank
The Second Bank of the United States seeks to curtail its inflationary activity, which, combined with a collapse in U.S. agricultural prices, triggers America’s first peacetime financial panic. Specie payments are suspended. -
1831: America’s First Thrift
America’s first building and loan—the Oxford Provident Building Association—opens in Frankford, Pa., to make home loans more accessible. -
1900: The Growth of Professional Development
The American Institute of Bank Clerks—the forerunner of ABA’s American Institute of Banking, which will exist until 2014—is launched to unite bank employees for education and social purposes. The institute offers a series of correspondence courses and courses administered through local chapters. -
1903: A Pioneer for Women, African Americans
Maggie Walker, an African-American civil rights leader, becomes the first woman to found a bank when she establishes the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Va. -
1913: Standing Up for Farm Banks
ABA’s first committee for agricultural banks is established -
2000: The Bank Branch as Retail Store
In Las Vegas, Washington Mutual opens one of the first retail store concepts for a bank branch. The concept—which includes a welcome concierge, roving tellers with remote devices and a play area for children—eventually spreads to its branches nationwide. -
2012: The Chip in the Card
J.P. Morgan Chase becomes the first major U.S. bank to issue a credit card with chip-based technology for advanced security.
