Banking to Help Citizens

When taking a look at some of the most successful banks today, we see names of banks that we are familiar with like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and others. While all of these banks have a good reputation today, they all began without their reputation. When a company is just starting, it is reasonable for consumers to have doubts or concerns about the company especially if it is a bank that handles your money. Giannini and the Bank of Italy were able to overcome this by, as mentioned before, using their community to their advantage. Being an Italian-American, Giannini did not have the same level of respect that other bank owners at the time did. This being so, Giannini advertised to Italian-Americans and immigrants who were also not treated with the same respect that Americans were. He did this by assisting immigrants and other working class people that other banks would not help. He offered them small loans and opened savings accounts for these people who were, for the most part, Italian immigrants. Since many banks at the time did not help lower class citizens, “Giannini saw an opportunity in servicing the needs of the growing immigrant and working-class population” (Martone 108). By helping the people that other banks wouldn’t help, he was able to target a wide range of people that most banks wouldn't pay attention to. This brought him success and even allowed him to continuously expand the Bank of Italy into different areas of Northern California by purchasing different branches.