Why does Bank of America sometimes refer to itself as Banc of America on some documents?
"From https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Banc: Banq (also Banc, banc-corp, bancorp, or bancorporation) is an intentionally erroneous spelling of the word bank, but pronounced the same way. It has been adopted by companies which are not banks but wish to appear as such, and satisfy legal restrictions on the usage of the word bank. ... For instance, if the original company is known as Bank of America, then the new investment banking entity may be known as Banc of America Securities LLC. If the original company is known as Bank of Manhattan, then its insurance business might be known as ""Banc of Manhattan Insurance"" and its holding company might be called ""Manhattan Bancorp"". This practice originates from legal necessity: Under the laws of most states, a corporation may only use the word ""bank"" in its name if it has obtained a banking charter under state or federal banking laws. So, ""Banc of America"" is the subsidiary of BoA that doesn't have appropriate licenses to be called ""bank"". Wonders of complex regulation :)"
"The address under a bank's name on a check, if there is one, is generally going to be the contact address of the bank. That will be true no matter where on the check the bank's name appears. The address of the person or business the account belongs to, if present, will appear under their name. This information block is typically near the top left corner the check, so it will be visible as the return address if the check is mailed in a ""window envelope"" designed for this purpose. The address the check is being mailed to, if it appears on the check, will generally appear low on the check and to the right, so it will be visible as the destination address when the check is mailed using a ""window envelope"" designed for this purpose. If that isn't the answer you were looking for, please clarify your question." The fact that a lawsuit has been filed is not ipso facto evidence of wrongdoing. BoA has a lot of ugliness yet un-accounted-for, but escrowing insurance and taxes is 100% standard practice, to the point where you cannot get a conventional mortgage that *doesn't* escrow that stuff.   **NO** bank will give or carry a conventional home-loan *without* escrowing taxes and insurance. If you have a conventional mortgage, your insurance and tax payments are made by the mortgager whether or not you pay, because the bank doesn't want the house (their collateral) repo'd or destroyed due to lack of a $100 insurance/tax payment.   To the point, no bank in 2011 wants *more* foreclosed homes on their books. Banks *lose* money in foreclosure. The thesis that BoA conspired to get a bigger portfolio of underwater homes defies sanity.   Just because BoA robbed a liquor store doesn't mean that they also molested children and killed JFK. There might be a colossal paperwork snafu here that BoA has to make right, but that can be unwound. But the narrative that BoA was gaming the paperwork to get a higher ratio of foreclosures on their books doesn't make sense. I believe it’s because the old ticker machines only had 32 symbols making each symbol (1/32) a tick. (Back in the London Stock / Debt exchange in the 18th century) . The first ever government bond was issued by the Bank of England in 1693 to raise money to fund a war against France Probably because large chains can absorb the loss from fraud better than small stores do.  Thus, small stores want to ensure that the person holding the card is the same as the name on the card. The ABA number you speak of is more accurately called the Routing Transit Number.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_transit_number A routing transit number (RTN) is a nine digit bank code, used in the   United States, which appears on the bottom of negotiable instruments   such as checks identifying the financial institution on which it was   drawn. This code was designed to facilitate the sorting, bundling, and   shipment of paper checks back to the drawer's (check writer's)   account. The RTN is also used by Federal Reserve Banks to process Fedwire funds   transfers, and by the Automated Clearing House to process direct   deposits, bill payments, and other such automated transfers. The RTN number is derived from the bank's transit number originated by   the American Bankers Association, which designed it in 1910.[1] I am going to assume that the euphemistic ABA Number has been shortened by whoever told you about it and called it the ABN.  Perhaps American Bank Number.  Either way, the technical term is RTN. Perhaps a comment or editor can straighten me out about the ABN. There is an international number known as the SWIFT number that serves the same purpose worldwide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9362 ISO 9362 (also known as SWIFT-BIC, BIC code, SWIFT ID or SWIFT code)   defines a standard format of Business Identifier Codes approved by the   International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is a unique   identification code for both financial and non-financial   institutions.[1] The acronym SWIFT stands for the Society for   Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. When assigned to a   non-financial institution, the code may also be known as a Business   Entity Identifier or BEI. These codes are used when transferring money   between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also   for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can   sometimes be found on account statements. A big issue for historical data in banking is that they don't/can't reside within a single system. Archives of typical bank will include dozen(s) of different archives made by different companies on different, incompatible systems. For example, see http://www.motherjones.com/files/images/big-bank-theory-chart-large.jpg as an illustration of bank mergers and acquisitions, and AFAIK that doesn't include many smaller deals. For any given account, it's 10-year history might be on some different system. Often, when integrating such systems, a compromise is made - if bank A acquires bank B that has earlier acquired bank C, then if the acquisition of C was a few years ago, then you can skip integrating the archives of C in your online systems, keep them separate, and use them only when/if needed (and minimize that need by hefty fees).  Since the price list and services are supposed to be equal for everyone, then no matter how your accounts originated, if 10% of archives are an expensive enough problem to integrate, then it makes financial sense to restrict access to 100% of archives older than some arbitrary threshold. "As an addendum to PeterK's answer, once upon a time, there were many Savings and Loan Associations (S&Ls) that acted as small banks, accepting savings deposits from people and lending money for home mortgages to local residents. Some of these S&Ls were chartered Federally with deposits insured by the FSLIC (similar to the FDIC which still insures deposits in banks) while others had State charters and used the State equivalent of FSLIC as the insurer. To induce people to save with S&Ls instead of banks, S&Ls paid higher rates of interest on their savings accounts than banks were permitted to do on bank savings accounts. Until 1980, S&Ls were not permitted to make consumer or commercial loans, have checking accounts, issue credit cards, etc., but once the US Congress in its wisdom permitted this practice, this part of the business boomed. (Note for @RonJohn: Prior to 1980, S&Ls offered NOW accounts on which ""checks"" (technically, Negotiated Orders of Withdrawal) could be written but they were not checks in the legal sense, and many S&Ls did not return these paid ""checks"" with the monthly statement as all banks did; writing a ""check"" while pressing hard created a carbon copy that could be used as proof of payment). In just a few years' time, many S&Ls crashed because they were not geared to handle the complexities of the new things that they were permitted to do, and so ran into trouble with bad loans as well as outright fraud by S&L management and boards of directors etc. After the disappearance of most S&Ls, many small banks (often with State charters only) sprang up, and that's why there are so many banks in the US. Mortgage lending is a lucrative business (if done right), and everyone wants to get into the business. Note that 4 branches of Bank of America in a Florida town is not a sign of many banks; the many different banks that the OP noticed in Maine is." "I cannot answer the original question, but since there is a good deal of discussion about whether it's credible at all, here's an answer that I got from Bank of America. Note the fine difference between ""your account"" and ""our account"", which does not seem to be a typo: The payment method is determined automatically by our system.  One of   the main factors is the method by which pay to recipients prefer to   receive payments.  If a payment can be issued electronically, we   attempt to do so because it is the most efficient method.   Payment methods include: *Electronic:  Payment is sent electronically prior to the ""Deliver By"" date.  The funds for the payment are deducted from your account on the   ""Deliver By"" date. *Corporate Check:  This is a check drawn on our account and is mailed to the pay to recipient a few days before the ""Deliver By"" date.  The   funds to cover the payment are deducted from your account on the   ""Deliver By"" date. *Laser Draft Check: This is a check drawn on your account and mailed to the pay to recipient a few days before the ""Deliver By"" date.  The   funds for the payment are deducted from your account when the pay to   recipient cashes the check, just as if you wrote the check yourself. To determine how your payment was sent, click the ""Payments"" button in   your Bill Pay service.  Select the ""view payment"" link next to the   payment.  Payment information is then displayed.  ""Transmitted   electronically"" means the payment was sent electronically.  ""Payment   transaction number"" means the payment was sent via a check drawn from   our account.  ""Check number"" means the payment was sent as a laser   draft check. Each payment request is evaluated individually and may change each   time a payment processes.   A payment may switch from one payment   method to another for a number of reasons.  The merchant may have   temporarily switched the payment method to paper, while they update   processing information.  Recent changes or re-issuance of your payee   account number could alter the payment method. In my case, the web site reads a little different: Payment check # 12345678 (8 digits) was sent to Company on 10/27/2015 and   delivered on 10/30/2015. Funds were withdrawn from your (named)   account on 10/30/2015. for one due on 10/30/2015; this must be the ""corporate check"". And for another, earlier one, due on 10/01/2015, this must be the laser draft check: Check # 1234 (4 digits) from your (named) account was mailed to Company on   09/28/2015. Funds for this payment are withdrawn from your account   when the Pay To account cashes the check. Both payments were made based on the same recurring bill pay payment that I set up manually (knowing little more of the company than its address)." "There are other good answers to the general point that the essence of what you're describing exists already, but I'd like to point out a separate flaw in your logic: Why add more complications so that ""should I call this principal or interest"" actually makes a difference? Why's the point (incentive) for this? The incentive is that using excess payments to credit payments due in the future rather than applying it to outstanding principal is more lucrative for the lender. Since it's more lucrative and there's no law against it most (all) lenders use it as the default setting." I didn't realize that! Thanks for the correction. A bit of google-fu provided this:  &gt;[Stolen funds may be covered by what's called a banker's blanket bond, which is a multi-purpose insurance policy a bank purchases to protect itself from fire, flood, earthquake, robbery, defalcation, embezzlement and other causes of disappearing funds. In any event, an occurrence such as a fire or bank robbery may result in a loss to the bank but should not result in a loss to the bank's customers.](http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/information/fdiciorn.html) The best answer is, I think, also the simplest:  A bank is an entity which performs maturity transformation.  (Conversely, any entity that performs maturity transformation is acting as a bank, regardless of whether it is called one or is regulated as one.  And an entity which does not perform maturity transformation isn't really a bank.)  Maturity transformation is the process by which a bank accepts short-term deposits, and makes long-term loans.  The benefit to society is fairly obvious; we (collectively) like being able to take out mortgages, but we also like having our money in a checking account and available on demand.  Banks allow this to happen, although property bubbles and similar make it clear that this isn't without cost.  (Note:  Central banks are a completely different kettle of fish.) Exactly.  Or if you prefer, they were not acting *as* banks when doing so.  (Well, at least by the definition I gave, obviously.  If you prefer a different definition, you get a different answer.  Although I'm not sure there really is a useful definition of banking that would cover the behaviour you described.) ##Glass–Steagall legislation The Glass–Steagall legislation describes four provisions of the U.S. Banking Act of 1933 separating commercial and investment banking.  The article 1933 Banking Act describes the entire law, including the legislative history of the provisions covered here.  (The common name comes from the names of the Congressional sponsors, Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry B. Steagall. A separate 1932 law described in the article Glass–Steagall Act of 1932, had the same sponsors, and is also referred to as the Glass–Steagall Act.)  The separation of commercial and investment banking prevented securities firms and investment banks from taking deposits, and commercial Federal Reserve member banks from:  dealing in non-governmental securities for customers  investing in non-investment grade securities for themselves  underwriting or distributing non-governmental securities  affiliating (or sharing employees) with companies involved in such activities  Starting in the early 1960s, federal banking regulators interpretations of the Act permitted commercial banks, and especially commercial bank affiliates, to engage in an expanding list and volume of securities activities.  ***  ^[ [^PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=kittens_from_space) ^| [^Exclude ^me](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiTextBot&amp;message=Excludeme&amp;subject=Excludeme) ^| [^Exclude ^from ^subreddit](https://np.reddit.com/r/business/about/banned) ^| [^FAQ ^/ ^Information](https://np.reddit.com/r/WikiTextBot/wiki/index)   ^] ^Downvote ^to ^remove "The ""just accounting"" is how money market works these days. Lets look at this simplified example: The bank creates an asset - loan in the amount of X, secured by a house worth 1.25*X (assuming 20% downpayment). The bank also creates a liability in the amount of X to its depositors, because the money lent was the money first deposited into the bank by someone else (or borrowed by the bank from the Federal Reserve(*), which is, again, a liability). That liability is not secured. Now the person defaults on the loan in the amount of X, but at that time the prices dropped, and the house is now worth 0.8*X. The bank forecloses, sells the house, recovers 80% of the loan, and removes the asset of the loan, creating an asset of cash in the value of 0.8*X. But the liability in the amount of X didn't go anywhere. Bank still has to repay the X amount of money back to its depositors/Feds. The difference? 20% of X in our scenario - that's the bank's loss. (*) Federal Reserve is the US equivalent of a central bank." The bank won't let you because: Differences in required account features — Business accounts have different features (many of them legal features) that are required by businesses. For instances: Do you want to be able to deposit cheques that are written out to your business name? You need a business account for that. Your business could be sold. Then it wouldn't be your business, so it wouldn't make sense to put the business account under your personal name. The bank account and the cash it holds is a business asset and should be owned by the business, so when the business is sold the account goes with it. This is especially the case for a corporation that has shareholders, and not a sole proprietorship. For a business, you could also, in theory, assign other people as signing authorities on the business account (e.g. your corporate treasurer), and the individuals performing that role could change over time. Business accounts allow for this kind of use. Market segmentation — The bank has consciously undertaken to segment their product offerings in order to maximize their profit. Market segmentation helps the bottom line. Even if there were zero legal reasons to have separate personal vs. business accounts, banks would still make it their policy to sell different account types according to use because they can make more money that way. Consider an example in another industry: The plain-old telephone company also practices segmentation w.r.t. personal/business. Do you want a telephone line for a business and listed as such in the phone book? You need a business line. Do you want a phone line hooked up at a non-residential address? You need a business line. Here it's clear it is less of a legal issue than with the bank account, and it doesn't matter that the technical features of the phone line may be identical for the basic product offerings within each segment. The phone company has chosen to segment and price their product offerings this way. Q. Why do companies choose to charge some kinds of customers more than others for essentially the same underlying service? A. Because they can.