Midsize institutions had the biggest deposit growth in the year ended June 30, and the industry overall added branches at a slower pace than in 2008, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.
The agency's rundown in its 2009 "Summary of Deposits" said that total deposits grew by 7.7%, compared to 4.8% growth in the four quarters through June 2008.
Banks and thrifts with $1 billion to $10 billion of assets added 10.5% in deposits and 5.2% to their branch total, outpacing both larger institutions (7.6% deposit growth; 1% branch growth) and smaller ones (2.8% deposit growth; a 2.4% decline in branches).
"This trend is largely explained by the acquisition of smaller institutions by midsize institutions and the organic growth of smaller institutions into midsize institutions," wrote senior financial analyst Robert E. Basinger in the analysis, which was published in FDIC Quarterly.
Though deposit growth accelerated overall, branch growth did not. The number of branch offices grew just 0.4%, the smallest increase since 1996 and below the previous 12 months' 2% growth. The agency said banks may be consolidating branches to save on expenses in the downturn.
Large institutions continued to proliferate their branch networks' coverage of states. The number of companies operating in at least 15 states grew from 12 to 14. Those operating in the most states were Wells Fargo & Co. (40 states), Bank of America Corp. (36), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (24) and U.S. Bancorp (24).
