A.P. GIANNINI MADE LOANS ON A HANDSHAKE AND EVERYONE PAID UP. THAT WAS IN 1906. THERE IS NO HONOR ANYMORE

I was watching Virginia Hammerness,  
the granddaughter of A.P. Giannini on CBS slamming the current Bank of America management as "idiots." It was A.P. Giannini who founded the bank in 1904 as the Bank of Italy because the big eastern banks wouldn't lend money to immigrants, like the Italians.

She recounted how Gianniani became a legend right after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, even though his bank had burned down. She described how he set up a wooden plank atop two barrels on the street and made loans there with just a handshake. He claimed later that every loan was repaid, she explained.

His priority was not greed; but his customers. When he died, his estate was valued at $500,000, although he had declined a bank offer of a $1.7 million bonus claiming that the bank owed it to their customers instead.

You can read the full article HERE, or watch the CBS report.

What stood out for me was the fact that honor was prevalent at the turn of the century. You were as good as your word and without that integrity you were nothing.

So how did the world change so much? How did we become a society of greed and corruption, interested only in the quick profit and not in the well being of customers?

When was the last time you transacted business on a handshake?  And could you ever imagine doing so?

MisterWriter