Branching Out.

In the 1950s America's banking structure remained regulated at two levels, federal and state. The states retained the authority to permit a bank to open additional offices, or "branches," but in 1960 most states still had restrictions against branch banking. Few states had unfettered branch laws, and no banks could branch across state lines. Led by such giants as the Bank of America in California, branching expanded in the Southwest and South. States such as Arizona, with tiny amounts of capital compared to other states, could boast several banks in the top one hundred in the nation in terms of size and one in the top thirty. Yet unit banking still remained the norm. In 1960 the number of banks exceeded branches (13,472 to 10,472), the last decade that such a relationship would exist.

B of A Growth.

Aided by branch...