The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) founded Amalgamated Bank in 1923 to serve the financial needs of working people. In 1995, the ACWA merged with another labor union, the ILGWU, to form UNITE which then, in July 2004, merged with HERE (the union for hotel and restaurant workers) to form UNITE HERE.
In 1973 Amalgamated Bank received trust powers and launched the Investment Services and Custody Division to provide trustee, investment advisory, custody and benefit remittance services for union and public sector employee benefit plans. The Institutional Asset Management & Custody Division has its main offices in the Bank's headquarters building and maintains a Regional Sales & Marketing Office in Pasadena, CA. Amalgamated Bank also has a network of 19 full-service branch banking offices offering retail and commercial banking products and services in California, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, and Washington DC.