Adjusting for mergers, the rate of deposit growth at community banks has exceeded that of noncommunity banks in each of the past three years, according to an article in FDIC Quarterly, a publication of the federal bank deposit insurer, that also looks at growth and declines in the number of banking facilities nationwide over the past five years.
The article, based on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s (FDIC) 2019 Summary of Deposits Survey, states that the rate of deposit growth increased for both community and noncommunity banks over the previous 12 months. It says that in comparisons based on asset size, medium-sized banks registered “the highest merger-adjusted five-year average rate of annual deposit growth.” It adds that the number of offices operated by medium-sized banks increased over the past five years “despite the decrease in the number of offices operated by the banking industry as a whole.”
The reduction in the number of bank offices was nationwide, but there were variations. “The rate of decline was faster among offices located in metropolitan counties, limited-service offices, and offices with lower reported levels of deposits,” it states. Even so, the article says the number of counties with a banking office has remained relatively stable over the past five years.
The survey report also provides a limited amount of comparative data regarding credit unions. For example, it states that the share of all domestic deposits of banks and credit unions held by noncommunity banks increased from 76.7% to 77.6% June 2015 and June 2019, while the community bank share decreased from 14.8% to 13.2%.
The report also shows a slight increase in credit unions’ overall deposit share (that is, share of all domestic deposits of banks and credit unions) from 8.5% to 9.1%. As of June 2019, total deposits at credit unions were $1.28 trillion, a 6% increase over the previous 12 months, it notes.
FDIC Quarterly – Quarterly Banking Profile, Fourth Quarter 2019
Article: 2019 Summary of Deposits Highlights