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56-582: The building's architect was McKim, Mead & White of New York City, and built for newspaper syndicate publisher, Frank A. Munsey (1854–1925). Known then as the "Dealer in Dailies" and the "Undertaker of Journalism", Munsey was extremely controversial and often feared and despised by both readers and reporters alike. But he anticipated many trends in modern journalism and his papers in the early 20th century were often very pictorial and graphic plus being widely distributed, influential and popular. A contemporary of

112-400: A 24-year period he bought, operated and/or sold as many as 17 papers. During a period in which the total number of American newspapers was in decline, Munsey became known for merging many of his properties. Though perhaps wise financially, his mergers earned him a great deal of enmity from those who worked in the industry. He would be referred to at various times as " Executioner of Newspapers ",

168-400: A day or two late. MBNA has been found to be one of the leading implementors of rate-jacking. For further information and links, see credit card . In Ireland, MBNA was accused of calling consumers up to eight times a day who were behind in making payments, which prompted the state debt advisory service to publicly state that harassment is outlawed. Affected people were advised to complain to

224-480: A few years, Munsey converted this building to serve as the headquarters to his newly chartered Munsey Trust Company, founded in 1913, which was reorganized two years later as The Equitable Trust Company with Munsey as chairman of the board. By the late 1990s, Equitable Trust had become one of the largest banks in Maryland (and second largest to the restructured post- Great Depression era Maryland National Bank ) in

280-563: A major investor and chairman of Maryland National since 1989, was the new MBNA's largest stockholder and chairman. Lerner became a multi-billionaire and purchased the Cleveland Browns franchise of the National Football League in 1998. He served as chairman of MBNA until his death in 2002. Maryland National was acquired by NationsBank in 1993. As MBNA grew, it became one of the most profitable companies in

336-550: A similar " robber baron " reputation). Construction of the "Munsey Trust Building" was completed in 1905. The building rose to 171 feet (52 m) containing 13 floors, and was one of the highest structures in the city at the time, besides the Washington Monument , the Capitol dome , the tower of the old Post Office headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue, and various church spires. The first National Headquarters of

392-478: A wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. On June 10, 2006, MBNA changed its name to FIA Card Services , National Association (FIA), which is not an acronym . On October 20, 2006, Bank of America, National Association (USA), a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, merged with and into FIA. This purchase was a reunion of sorts. In 1993, NationsBank (formerly NCNB, and originally North Carolina National Bank ) bought MNC Financial (whose credit card division

448-617: A younger sister and brother. Frank worked at a grocery store in Lisbon Falls, and since the store included the local Post Office he was able to teach himself to use the telegraph. At age sixteen he moved to Portland as the telegraph operator for a hotel, and after jobs in Rye Beach , Boston and elsewhere he returned to Maine, where he was hired by Western Union in about 1877 to manage their branch office in Augusta . As Augusta

504-641: Is much reduced. Frank Munsey was born on August 21, 1854, on a farm a couple of miles from Mercer, Maine . His father, Andrew Chauncey Munsey, was a Civil War veteran who had been born in Quebec; his mother was Mary Jane Merrit Hopkins Munsey. The family moved around Maine several times: first to Gardiner , six months after he was born; then three years later to Bowdoin . They stayed in Bowdoin until 1868, then moved to Lisbon Falls , and again in about 1878 to Livermore Falls . Frank had three older sisters, and

560-458: Is the state capital of Maine, Munsey had an opportunity to meet local politicians, and he made the acquaintance of James Blaine , one of Maine's senators. Augusta was also the center of a major part of the American magazine publishing industry, and among other local businessmen Munsey met Edward Charles Allen , who had founded People's Literary Companion in 1870 and become very successful in

616-547: The 1912 Republican Party nomination for the presidency. Munsey and George W. Perkins provided the financial backing for Roosevelt's campaign leading up to the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Roosevelt and his supporters bolted from the convention, Munsey was one of the most outspoken critics of what were labeled as "corrupt proceedings" and announced that Roosevelt would run at

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672-495: The Baltimore American . Three decades later, these were combined in 1964 as The News American published daily in the afternoon and Sunday morning with the biggest circulation in town, followed by competitors since 1837 from the A.S. Abell & Company of The Sun in the mornings and its later sister The Evening Sun added in 1910 under famed reporter, editor and columnist H. L. Mencken (1883-1956). After

728-496: The Baltimore Evening News - founded 1871) which he had just purchased in 1908 from long time local tycoon, Gen. Felix Agnus along with the ancient elder publication of The Baltimore American , one of the oldest papers in the country, published since 1773. These papers were later purchased from a declining Munsey in 1923 by Hearst and merged as the daily evening Baltimore News-Post and Sunday's publication of

784-550: The Baltimore Ravens , opened on the first floor facing the ground level streets. Munsey died in New York City on December 22, 1925, from a burst appendix at age 71. In his will he made large bequests to his sister, nephew and niece, generous bequests to many cousins, and gifts and annuities to a large number of old acquaintances. He also bestowed large sums to 17 of his upper management employees, but nothing to

840-665: The Baltimore metropolitan area . By the 2000s it had been subsumed in a series of mergers and out-of-town take-overs by regional banks. Its name still remains on the East Fayette Street side cornice of the Baltimore "Munsey Building", which was converted in 2010's to luxury apartments and condos, and after a series of fast-food shops or cafes on the ground floor replaced the ornate marble and bronze banking customer service lobby, finally an M & T Bank branch opened in

896-598: The FBI . On June 30, 2005, MBNA announced that it was being acquired by Bank of America for stock and cash totaling more than $ 35 billion, and the deal was closed on January 1, 2006. The acquisition resulted in MBNA being renamed to "Bank of America Card Services" while still based in Delaware. For the first part of 2006, MBNA still issued credit cards under its own name associated with Mastercard, VISA, and American Express, but by

952-745: The Girl Scouts of the USA was in Room 502 from 1913 until 1916. After protests and court action to block demolition, the building was demolished in 1980, by contractor, for the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation . The site of the former building now contains the 16-story National Place Building. There is also a similarly styled Munsey Building in Baltimore, Maryland by Baldwin & Pennington of Baltimore and also McKim, Mead and White of New York at

1008-540: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. The original location was on the northern edge of the devastated downtown district. The Munsey Building was notable for its upstairs offices and its ground floor printing presses, visible to passers-by through large department store, display-style windows designed and built for "The News" of Baltimore. Under Hearst's ownership, the paper moved again in 1924 to East Pratt Street between Commerce and South Streets (facing

1064-821: The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue in New York City. This bequest included ownership of the Sun-Herald newspaper, The Mohican Stores grocery chain, and real estate holdings in Manhasset, New York , on the north shore of Long Island. Under the leadership of Museum President Robert W. DeForest , the Metropolitan Museum developed part of the land into a planned residential community called Munsey Park, New York . It featured Colonial-style houses and streets named after American artists. The community's first model home opened in 1928. By 1950

1120-531: The Toronto-Dominion Bank would be purchasing MBNA's Canadian MasterCard portfolio. The acquisition of MBNA Canada by TD, which was completed on December 1, 2011, saw TD become a dual credit issuer (both Visa and MasterCard), become Canada's largest MasterCard issuer, and one of Canada's largest credit issuing banks. In January 2013, Virgin Money agreed to buy £1 billion of assets from MBNA, namely

1176-570: The Virgin Credit Card assets which MBNA had serviced and managed in partnership with Virgin Money since 2002. The former Vice Chairman of MBNA Corporation, Lance Weaver, became Virgin Money's President of Virgin Money Cards. On December 20, 2016, Lloyds Banking Group announced that it would purchase MBNA's UK portfolio from Bank of America for £1.9 billion, its first acquisition after the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . The deal

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1232-548: The " Dealer in Dailies " and the " Undertaker of Journalism ." Newspapers with a period of Munsey ownership: The sale of the Herald in 1924 left Munsey owning only two newspapers at the time of his death the following year. The Evening Telegram was sold to Scripps-Howard in 1927, two years after Munsey's death. Munsey also authored a number of novels: Munsey founded the Munsey Trust Company in 1913. It

1288-465: The 25-cent "slick" magazines of the time. Munsey's pulp magazine innovation spawned a new line of publishing, one in which he was well positioned to profit, and from which he did become wealthy. If one of his magazine titles was no longer profitable, Munsey would stop his presses just long enough to typeset/promote one of many titles continuously being field-tested. New titles can expand revenue or replace what has been lost when demand for an older title

1344-775: The Museum had sold the Munsey real estate interests to other developers, realizing an estimated four million dollars from these transactions. At the time of his death his fortune was estimated to be $ 20 million to $ 40 million. Today with the rate of inflation it would be valued at $ 250 million to $ 500 million. Maryland National Bank MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A. , headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware , prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006. The former Maryland National Bank , once

1400-559: The United States, the world's largest independent credit card issuer, and the largest private-sector employer in Delaware. In 1995, MBNA moved its headquarters from a suburban location to Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington, Delaware . This investment was credited with helping to revive Wilmington's downtown real estate market. In 2003, MBNA partnered with Bluefish entrepreneur Steve Sims to launch its own credit card. Historically, many MBNA executives were former employees of

1456-616: The bank was reorganized as the Maryland National Bank. Maryland National's parent, bank holding company MNC Financial, began offering credit cards in the 1960s. In the early 1980s, Maryland banks lobbied the Maryland General Assembly for legislation to permit higher interest rates on credit-card charges, but lawmakers refused. The neighboring state of Delaware, by contrast, had removed interest-rate restrictions in 1981. When Maryland failed to do

1512-402: The business. Munsey became determined to publish a magazine, and having saved $ 500 and persuaded two acquaintances to invest $ 3,500 ($ 111,000 in 2023), he spent his $ 500 on acquiring manuscripts, and left Augusta for New York in 1882. There he discovered that the cost estimates he had made were unrealistically low. He simplified the plans for the new magazine and wrote to the main investor for

1568-536: The close relationship between Biden and MBNA, Byron York called Biden the "Senator from MBNA" in a 1998 article for conservative magazine The American Spectator . MBNA was one of the companies mentioned on a 2004 Frontline WGBH Boston PBS special about unfair business practices by credit card companies. Some practices that Frontline claimed MBNA has engaged in included doubling or tripling of interest rates, shifting billing due dates/payment cycles monthly and raising rates for customers whose payments were

1624-601: The fast growth of the company. It allowed for increasing the amount loaned without having to acquire matching assets to offset the loans. In Canada and Europe, the MBNA name was retained. MBNA Europe headquarters is in Chester , England, United Kingdom. MBNA Canada's headquarters is located in Ottawa , Ontario. In 2007, the Canadian division was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers . On August 15, 2011, MBNA announced that

1680-684: The first specialized pulp magazine which featured railroad-related stories and articles. This was soon followed by a similar magazine, The Ocean , which featured sea stories and articles. The Ocean debuted with a March 1907 issue. After the January 1908 issue, The Ocean's title was changed to The Live Wire and its content became more general purpose. Other Munsey pulps and magazines included Puritan , Junior Munsey , All-Story Magazine , Scrap Book , Cavalier , Railroad and Current Mechanics . Once he became interested in newspapers, Munsey's visibility increased, both locally and nationally. Over

1736-416: The following month. In 1896 he changed it to carry only fiction, and began printing it on cheap wood-pulp paper, making it the first pulp magazine. Circulation grew again, reaching 300,000 in 1902, and half a million in 1907. By 1895, circulation of Munsey's Magazine was over half a million copies per month, reaching 700,000 by 1897. In October 1906, Munsey began publishing Railroad Man's Magazine ,

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1792-410: The funds, but received no reply. He was forced to give up the idea of launching the magazine himself as he had only $ 40 in hand along with the manuscripts he had bought. He persuaded E. G. Rideout , a New York publisher, to take on the magazine, with Munsey as editor and manager. The first issue, titled The Golden Argosy , was dated December 9, 1882. Rideout went bankrupt in early 1883, but Munsey

1848-410: The ground floor, where the grimy printing presses once rumbled and rolled, replaced later by the ornate brass and marble counters for customer service with wood and paneling framed, glass-partitioned offices of the banking empire, but the name remained. Ironically, by 2013, a modern branch office of M&T Bank , an out-of-town corporate bank which also put its name on the city's pro football stadium for

1904-498: The head of a new party. Munsey's encouragement and his offer of financial backing led to the formation of the Progressive Party , which acquired the nickname the " Bull Moose Party " (from TR's quote: "I'm as strong as a bull moose", when questioned about his age after previously becoming the youngest president upon McKinley's assassination, serving almost two terms as president) then nominated Roosevelt for president. Munsey

1960-501: The historic banking and newspaper headquarters building in 2013. Frank Munsey Frank Andrew Munsey (August 21, 1854 – December 22, 1925) was an American newspaper and magazine publisher, banker, political financier and author. He was born in Mercer , Maine , but spent most of his life in New York City. The village of Munsey Park, New York , is named for him, along with The Munsey Building in downtown Baltimore , Maryland, at

2016-541: The largest banking chain in Maryland, originated as the Baltimore Trust Company in the early 1900s. It later was challenged by the expenses and problems from the building of its landmark red brick, masonry, and limestone art deco -style skyscraper in downtown Baltimore at 10 Light Street between East Redwood (known as German Street before World War I ) and East Baltimore Streets. Construction began on

2072-638: The much more famous William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951), publisher of the San Francisco Examiner also a "newspaper tycoon", head of a powerful nationwide chain syndicate Hearst Corporation (and cultural predecessor of the current Rupert Murdoch (b. 1931), the Australian publisher who migrated to Great Britain picking up ownership of several papers there and later to the United States for more media/press publications and has

2128-597: The new BTC Building in 1924. Upon completion in 1929, it became the tallest building in Baltimore (and Maryland), surpassing the neighboring Citizens National Bank to the south. It opened just before the avalanche of economic disaster and unemployment following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 . After a series of reorganizations during the " New Deal " administration of 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt (and his bank holiday shortly after taking office in March 1933),

2184-618: The numerous employees who worked for him. He bequeathed an annuity of $ 2000 to Annie Downs, a love interest of the young Munsey who "turned him down for marriage because she didn't think he was a good enough prospect for success." Munsey also contributed considerably to Bowdoin College , the Maine State Hospital at Portland, and Central Main General Hospital at Lewiston. All the remainder of his fortune he gave to

2240-429: The old "Basin"/ Inner Harbor piers), The Munsey Building, by then separated from the newspaper was later renovated into an elaborate bank headquarters and customer service lobby of marble, brass and bronze for his Munsey Trust Company . In the early 2000s, after a series of bank mergers and out-of-town take-overs, the building was transformed into apartments and condos with some commercial food and snack shops located on

2296-593: The price to 10 cents. He had to struggle to distribute it at this price, since the American News Company had a monopoly on magazine distribution and had little interest in a low-priced magazine. By the February issue Munsey was printing 200,000 copies, and it soon became successful enough to guarantee his financial security. The Argosy 's circulation had dropped to 9,000 by March 1894, but jumped to 40,000 when Munsey converted it to monthly publication

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2352-570: The same, MNC Financial moved its credit-card business across the state line. MBNA was founded in 1982 as Maryland Bank, N.A. Led by Charles Cawley , MBNA opened its first office in a converted A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) food supermarket in Ogletown, Delaware . An early driver of MBNA's growth was the creation of "affinity cards" in 1983. Cawley convinced the alumni association at his alma mater , Georgetown University , to allow MBNA to issue credit cards branded with

2408-771: The second half of 2006, all credit card products were re-branded as Bank of America rather than MBNA. At the same time in June 2005, MBNA bought Loans.co.uk (LCUK), then the United Kingdom's leading finance broker. Although figures were never released, various media outlets including newspapers in Watford , where Loans.co.uk was based, reported the deal made founders David Cowham and Steve Hayes worth £100m. MBNA/Bank of America later decided to close Loans.co.uk. On January 1, 2006, MBNA merged with and into Bank of America. MBNA America Bank, National Association, (MBNA) then became

2464-590: The southeast corner of North Calvert and East Fayette Streets. Munsey is credited with using new, high-speed printing presses , supplied with inexpensive, untrimmed, pulp paper, to mass-produce magazines at significantly reduced costs. Each issue could be priced as low as 10 cents; less than half the lowest price then charged for similar publications. Munsey's publishing presented diverse genres, preferring fictional, action-adventure storytelling. His magazines were aimed at working-class readers who could neither afford, nor expect to read about people like themselves in,

2520-459: The southeast corner of North Calvert and East Fayette Streets in downtown Baltimore. Its located across from the central Battle Monument Square. The building was rebuilt in 1911 by architectural firms Baldwin & Pennington of Baltimore and McKim, Mead and White of New York City. Baltimore's Munsey Building had briefly been that city's tallest building. This rebuilt structure replaced the newspapers' previous headquarters which had been lost in

2576-783: The southeast corner of North Calvert and East Fayette Streets, across from the Battle Monument Square with the landmark and city symbol to the fallen from the British attack in the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812 . Constructed in 1911 to replace, after just only five years, the previously just-constructed headquarters offices and printing plant in a moderately high skyscraper (with visible exhibited rolling presses behind huge glass department store style of first floor windows at ground level facing sidewalks) of The News (formerly

2632-467: The tallest structures in the Nation's Capital. The first national headquarters of the Girl Scouts of the USA was located in this building from 1913 to 1916. D.C.'s Munsey Trust Building was torn down in spite of a court case and extensive protests by historical preservationists. Thirty-five miles northeast of D.C., two additional buildings have carried Frank Munsey's surname. The Munsey Building sits at

2688-575: The title to just The Argosy in 1888, and experimented with changing the page size and page count, but made no headway. In 1889 he launched a second magazine, Munsey's Weekly , and in 1891 he tried his hand at running a newspaper, taking over the Daily Continent , but giving it up after only four months. At the end of the year he converted the weekly to a monthly, titled Munsey's Magazine , priced at 20 cents, and in October 1893 he cut

2744-425: The university's name. This proved to be a successful business, and other affinity affiliations with universities, organizations, and sports teams followed; by 2004, MBNA had more than 5,400 partnerships, making up about 85% of the affinity-card market. In 1989, Maryland Bank was renamed MBNA America Bank. In 1991, MBNA Corp. spun off from Maryland National and became an independent company. Businessman Al Lerner ,

2800-404: The world at the time of the merger with Bank of America, MBNA owned or managed more than $ 122.5 billion in outstanding consumer credit loans. Most of this loan debt was held in securitized portfolios that had been sold to other entities such as insurance companies and pension funds. MBNA virtually invented the process for securitizing credit card debt and this process contributed significantly to

2856-702: Was able to claim the magazine's title and subscription list in lieu of unpaid salary, and the magazine continued with Munsey as publisher. In 1884 Blaine was the Republican candidate for President, and Munsey proposed to start a magazine, Munsey's Illustrated Weekly , to carry campaign news. The magazine ceased publication after the election but its apparently official nature helped Munsey get credit for paper and other supplies. Munsey later said, "That debt made me. Before, I had no credit and had to live from hand to mouth. But when I owed $ 8,000 my creditors didn't dare drop me. They saw their only chance of getting anything

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2912-523: Was completed on June 1, 2017 and since that time, in the United Kingdom, MBNA is a trading style of Lloyds Bank plc and is regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA . MBNA hired Hunter Biden (then 26 years old and a recent law school graduate) during the years when his father, then-Senator Joe Biden , was pushing for bankruptcy reform legislation supported by the company, which became law and makes it more difficult to acquire bankruptcy protection. Because of

2968-657: Was one of its most ardent supporters and one of the largest contributors to its "third party" campaign expenses. The campaign pulled one of the largest votes ever in American history for a candidate not from one of the two dominant parties. In 1905, Munsey built the Munsey Trust Building in downtown Washington, D.C. , on 'F' Street, between 12th and 13th Streets next to the National Theatre , off Pennsylvania Avenue . Designed by McKim, Mead and White of New York City with 13 floors, it had ranked among

3024-450: Was re-organized in 1915 as The Equitable Trust Company with Munsey as chairman of the board, and became one of the city and state's dominant financial institutions into the late 20th century. It was purchased by Maryland National Bank in 1990. Munsey became directly involved in presidential politics when former president Theodore Roosevelt announced his candidacy to challenge his hand-picked successor President William Howard Taft for

3080-665: Was spun off years earlier to become MBNA). Five years later, the Bank of America that exists today was the result of the merger between the San Francisco-based Bank of America and the Charlotte-based NationsBank. When Bank of America bought MBNA, it was in effect reuniting MNC Financial's credit card portfolio to its original banking assets and combining the Bank of America credit card portfolio with MBNA's. Employing more than 25,800 people around

3136-452: Was to keep me going." An advertising campaign in 1887 put Munsey $ 95,000 in debt, but made The Golden Argosy profitable, and boosted circulation to 115,000 in May of that year. The improvement was temporary; Munsey later realized that magazines for children were uninteresting to advertisers as children had no buying power, and the subscriptions dropped as the children grew up. He shortened

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