The City Bank of New York was founded on June 16, 1812. City Bank was the site of one of America’s first bank heists in 1831 when two thieves made off with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of banknotes and 398 gold doubloons. As a founding member of the financial clearinghouse in New York in 1853, the bank was the underwriter for $50 million in Union war bonds. By 1893, the bank was the largest institution in New York. The following year, it became the largest bank in the U.S. In 1899, the bank received a $5 million deposit to be given to Spain for the acquisition of the Philippines. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the institution was renamed Citicorp in 1974. Despite its long and storied history, it took Citibank many years, and several attempts, to break into the credit card industry. Shortly after Bank of America introduced the first consumer credit card, The BankAmericard, to the West Coast in 1958, Citi attempted its own version of the product on the East Coast when it purchased Carte Blanche (later known as Diners Club) from Hilton Hotels. By 1967, the bank launched The Everything Card to compete with Bank of America.