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For the first time, electronic payments (automatic transactions, credit cards, and debit cards) totaling $44.5 billion outnumber paper checks totaling $36.7 billion.

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The definition of capital is unchanged; however, Basel II allows the largest banks to use their own internal ratings systems to measure credit risk, as well as requires banks to measure and hold capital against operational risk.

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The prime minister of Iceland, Geir Haarde, resigns after the collapse of his country's banking system

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Citigroup agrees to pay $2 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit over its role in the Enron collapse.
In 2002, Citigroup sold stocks and bonds in the company before Enron filed for bankruptcy.

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Both J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America report more than $1 trillion of bank and non-bank assets.

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Bank of America launches a credit card in California.In 1966, the bank licenses BankAmericard, and in 1976, it changes its name to Visa.

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Checks become a more common means of payment.

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Venice, after being possibly the first city to found a bank for the keeping of money on safe deposit and the clearing of cheques, is also a pioneer in the involvement of a bank with state finances. In 1617 the Banco Giro is established to solve problems encountered by the earlier Banco della Piazza di Rialto, which has got into trouble through the making of unsecured loans.

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At the start of the 15th century the Medici are Europe's greatest banking dynasty, but their political power later distracts them from the highly focussed business of making money. After the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent the bank's finance s are in a perilous state.

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Bankers to Europe's kings: 13th - 14th century

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Bankers to Europe's kings: 13th - 14th century

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During the 13th century bankers from north Italy, collectively known as Lombards, gradually replace the Jewsin their traditional role as money-lenders to the rich and powerful. The business skills of the Italians are enhanced by their invention of double-entry book-keeping. Creative accountancy enables them to avoid the Christian sin of usury; interest on a loan is presented in the accounts either as a voluntary gift from the borrower or as a reward for the risk taken.

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Religion and banking: 12th - 13th century

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Religion and banking: 12th - 13th century

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The Christian prohibition on usury eventually provides an opportunity for bankers of another religion. European prosperit y needs finance. The Jews, barred from most other forms of employment, supply this need. But their success, and their extreme visibility as a religious sect, brings dangers.

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Banking activities in Greece are more varied and sophisticated than in any previous society. Private entrepreneurs, as well as temples and public bodies, now undertake financial transactions. They take deposits, make loans, change money from one currency to another and test coins for weight and purity.

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Wealth compressed into the convenient form of gold brings one disadvantage. Unless well hidden or protected, it is easily stolen.

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The first issue of the Bank Note Reporter is published. This weekly report on the value and validity of the bank notes was the most respected of many such publications that merchants relied upon to evaluate the reliability of currency.

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With the demise of the Second Bank of the United States in 1837, only state-chartered banks exist. During this period, known as the Free Banking Era, state chartering standards often are not very stringent, and many new banks are formed. Large numbers of them will fail. The era ends with the passage of the National Currency Act in 1863.

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New York is the first state to adopt an insurance plan for bank obligations. Between 1829 and 1866, five other states adopt similar plans.

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More than 420 banks exist in the U.S. All of them printing bank notes and making loans.

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The Farmer's Exchange Bank in Glouchester, Rhode Island, fails—the first U.S. bank failure.

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A group of New York investors establish the Bank of Manhattan to fund construction of a water supply for New York City. The state of New York charters the bank.

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The Bank of North America, established by the Continental Congress, becomes the first chartered bank in the U.S.