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Introduction The Beginnings Preston Martin F.Chow Chan Cathay Bank
East West Bank Far East National First Public Savings General Bank Trust Savings
Standard Bank Golden Security Eastern International The Continental Bank  

Los Angeles Chinese American
Banking Pioneers

The Beginnings: 1960-70s
By the 1950s and 1960s, the Los Angeles Chinatown community's growing financial needs were not being met. It was very difficult for Chinese Americans to get loans; home ownership was a luxury. F. Chow Chan of Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown had to go downtown to do his banking. The terms were difficult; there was often discrimination against people of color.

F. Chow Chan eventually was able to obtain charter to start Cathay Bank and East West Bank, the forerunners of two Chinese American financial institutions in Los Angeles. Betty Tom Chu, one of the founders of East West Bank recalls, "The Chinese did not even have the privilege of being denied a loan, because they were denied the application form!" Today all that has changed thanks to the efforts of far sighted Los Angeles Chinese American banking pioneers. They saw a need to offer financial services to the Chinese American community and filled that need.