Ken Lewis has made Bank of America a star performer. Why change a winning formula?
It didn’t last long but it was a telling moment. At the end of November 2006, Bank of America’s market capitalization briefly surpassed that of Citigroup, which has stood unchallenged for years as the biggest bank in the world by that measure. How did Bank of America manage this?
Simply by building a national US bank, sticking to unfashionably basic businesses – cheque accounts, home equity loans, cards – while controlling costs. Fully 50% of the bank’s revenues derive from some form of payments business. And although it wants to grow its...
