Top-Growth Banks Focus on Niche Lending, Benefit from Strong Local Economies
NASHVILLE, April 30, 2013 — Bank Director magazine has released its inaugural Growth Leaders Ranking, ranking U.S. banks and thrifts across four key growth categories: core income; core deposits; net loans and leases; and core noninterest income. Bank Director worked with Bank Intelligence Solutions, a subsidiary of Fiserv Inc., to construct the rankings, based on data from regulatory agency call reports for the first three quarters of 2012.
Revenue growth has proved difficult for the industry since the financial crisis, due to a weak U.S. economy and lowered interest rates. Many of the banks that appear in the rankings are located in markets with stronger economies, and the three banks that topped the rankings – Customers Bank of Pennsylvania, Cole Taylor Bank of Illinois, and State Bank & Trust Co. of Georgia – all differentiate themselves by using a market niche to find growth.
Customers Bank, which placed first in the growth of core income and net loans and leases and second in the core noninterest income category, focuses on niche lending, specifically mortgage warehouse lending. The short-term loans drive up the bank’s loan volume, and produce roughly $1 million a month in fee income. The bank also relies heavily on online and mobile channels rather than bricks and mortar to keep distribution costs down.
“This is a tough environment, but it’s also one of the best environments. If you have a unique strategy, a talented management team and capital, this is about the best time to be in the banking business,” says Jay Sidhu, CEO of Customers Bank.
Cole Taylor Bank ranked first in the core deposits category and fifth in core noninterest income. State Bank and Trust Co. ranked first in the core noninterest income category and ninth in core income.
The complete rankings are available on BankDirector.com and in the 2nd quarter 2013 issue of Bank Director. This issue also includes the results of Bank Director’s 2013 Risk Practices Survey.
A slideshow of the results is also available.
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Since 1991, Bank Director has served as a leading information resource for the directors and officers of financial institutions. Through its quarterly magazine, executive-level research, annual conferences, and its website, BankDirector.com, Bank Director reaches the leaders of the institutions that comprise America’s $11 trillion banking industry. Bank Director is published by DirectorCorps, and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Source: Bank Director Magazine
Contact: Emily McCormick, (615) 777-8450, [email protected]