In the history of the United States, there were two banks known as the Bank of the United States. The First Bank of the United States was established in 1791 and stayed open through 1811. The Second Bank of the United States opened in 1816 and closed in 1841. Apart from the historical banks of the United States, the New York Bank of the United States (1913-1930) can also be called the Bank of the United States, though is was a commercial bank and was never affiliated with the government.

The bank of the United States can also refer to the Federal Reserve, a system of banks that control access to currency. This is the closest entity that the United States has in having a Bank of the United States. The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Fed) is the central banking system in the United States. It was created in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act which gave the Fed a president-appointed Board of Governors, the Federal Open Market Committee, twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks, a number of private member banks, and various advisor councils. These systems all work together in order to serve the citizens of the United States as well as the federal government with banking accounts and access to money and other banking services. The current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve is also an important body that controls interest rates across the country. Banks in the United States of America follow the leaders of economy in the Federal Reserve.