The first solely owned Asian American bank to be launched in California since World War II,[citation needed] Bank of the Orient was founded by Ernest Go, a Chinese Filipino whose family was successful in the international banking business. The bank originally served the local Chinese and Asian communities in San Francisco, where most of its branch offices are still located today, and with its success, the bank gradually expanded into Hawaii.
Bank of the Orient is one of the first to venture into the growing Chinese market and its Xiamen branch office has been in business since the mid-1990s.
