Strategy
11/30/2012

Loan Notes: Big Banks Lose Ground


The largest banks trailed the rest of the industry in terms of loan growth in the third quarter compared to the same period a year ago, according to SNL Financial.

Loan growth among the top 25 bank holding companies was just 3.27 percent during the quarter, compared to 4.2 percent for all bank holding companies above $1 billion in assets in the United States.

SNL called it a sign of how competitive the industry has been. The most active lending segments are commercial and industrial, as well as mortgage and housing-related lending. Credit card and auto lending also has been strong.

Among big banks, the leader in loan growth was TD Bank US Holding Co., the U.S. subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, which had 16 percent growth. Tied for second place was BB&T Corp. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Discover Financial Services of Riverwoods, Illinois.

Among banks that saw declining loan portfolios were JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, Capital One Financial Corp. in McLean, Virginia, and Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala.

Bank Assets Loan Growth Y/Y 3Q (%)

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

$2.3 trillion

-2.87

Bank of America Corp.

$2.2 trillion

-4.27

Citigroup

$1.9 trillion

.13

Wells Fargo & Co.

$1.4 trillion

3.27

U.S. Bancorp

$352 billion

7.46

Source: SNL Financial

Bank Director Staff Writer