Cover of a brochure that Bank of America issued explaining the ERMA system before implementation.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons

Cover of a brochure that Bank of America issued explaining the ERMA system before implementation.

Page opening from Bank of American ERMA brochure with further details on the system.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons

Page opening from Bank of American ERMA brochure with further details on the system.

Page of the Bank of America brochure describing and illustrating the magnetic drum memories used by the system. Until the wide-spread adoption of solid-state memories, the electronic memory systems remained a significant stumbling block in building large scale systems.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons

Page of the Bank of America brochure describing and illustrating the magnetic drum memories used by the system. Until the wide-spread adoption of solid-state memories, the electronic memory systems remained a significant stumbling block in building large scale systems.

Detail map of Menlo Park, California, United States,San Francisco, California, United States Overview map of Menlo Park, California, United States,San Francisco, California, United States

A: Menlo Park, California, United States, B: San Francisco, California, United States

Stanford Research Institute Introduces ERMA, Electronic Method of Accounting for Banking

9/1955
Artist
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons

Artist's rendering of the first proposed ERMA installation for the Bank of America

In 1955 Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California, began the computerization of the banking industry by demonstrating a prototype electronic accounting machine using its ERMA (Electronic Recording Method of Accounting) system for Bank of America in San Francisco.

The ERMA system was built for Bank of America by General Electric.

Timeline Themes