I don't know about the First National Bank of Chicago, but Bank of America was not then a "one or two branch bank." It was a massive operation with branches all over the West, many through subsidiaries, until they were required to limit themselves to one state, and of course they limited themself to their largest state, also their home state, California.
They had hundred of branches throughout California and were the prototype for today's banks that have branches on every street corner. At a about the time they launched BankAmericard, they were the largest bank in the world, surpassing any of the New York banks.
As you know, in later years they fell on less prosperous times and were eventually acquired by NationsBank, formerly North Carolina National Bank (NCNB). NationsBank, upon acquiring Bank of America, changed its name from NationsBank to Bank of America and still has its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I should have originally said BoA was not very common in the Chicago and other midwest areas. To Chicago people, BoA was considered a San Francisco operation. Our local branch of BoA here in Independence did not arrive until about 1990. PAT]