Multi-office bank lending to small businesses: some new evidence

In a long-awaited move, Congress enacted legislation last fall authorizing full interstate banking. While most states had already acted to allow some form of entry by outside holding companies, the new law was expected to hasten the spread of large multi-office banking organizations. Most analysts believe the change will benefit the public by increasing competition, improving services to depositors, and reducing banks' vulnerability to local downturns. Concern has been voiced, however, that the benefits of multi-office banking may be achieved at the expense of small businesses. Some analysts worry that large multi-office banks will be less able or less willing to lend to small businesses than the smaller banks they replace.> Keeton investigates the relationship between multi-office banking and small business lending using new information on small business loans in Tenth District states. Data for mid-1994 support the view that further growth in multi-office banking may impose short-run costs on some small businesses. He cautions, though, against concluding that multi-office banking should be curtailed. Instead, regulators should continue to ensure that local banking markets remain competitive, so other banks can step in and fill any gaps in the legitimate credit needs of small businesses.Bank loans ; Small business

Do bank mergers reduce lending to businesses and farmers? New evidence from Tenth District states

The banking industry has undergone substantial consolidation during the last 15 years, and that process has accelerated in the 1990s. One effect of this consolidation has been to greatly reduce the number of independent and locally owned banks. Some banks have been acquired by distant banking organizations, and some have been acquired by banking companies that were nearby but very large, causing the banks to become junior partners in the new organization.> Since independent and locally owned banks have been important sources of funds for local businesses and farmers, concern has arisen that such borrowers will now find it harder to obtain credit. In principle, the extra safety and liquidity that newly acquired banks enjoy from belonging to a larger, more diversified banking organization could enable the banks to lend more to local farms and businesses. But some analysts worry that banks acquired by large or distant organizations will lend less to local borrowers because the parent company cannot make credit decisions as efficiently or has other preferred uses for the banks' funds.> Is this concern warranted? Keeton finds that recent bank mergers in Tenth District states provide partial support for the claim that banks acquired by large or distant organizations reduce lending to local farms and businesses.Bank loans ; Bank mergers ; Federal Reserve District, 10th

Are rural banks facing increased funding pressures? : evidence from Tenth District states

During the last several years, concern has increased that changes in the financial system have made it harder for rural banks to attract enough deposits to meet local credit demands. While urban banks may face some of the same problems, it is widely believed that funding pressures have increased more for rural banks than for urban banks. In response, bank trade groups and rural development officials have proposed new measures to expand rural banks' access to loanable funds.> Three factors have led to the increased concern about the ability of rural banks to fund their loans. Firs, loan-deposit ratios have risen sharply, reaching record highs in the last two years. Second, rural deposit growth has been sluggish. Third, increasing numbers of rural banks have been taken over by urban banks and converted to branches.> Keeton examines recent loan and deposit trends in Tenth District states to see what evidence exists for each of the three sources of concern about rural funding pressures and to see if the concerns are more justified for rural banks than urban banks. Overall, the evidence indicates that sluggish deposit growth has increased funding pressures at rural banks but not any more than at urban banks of the same size. In short, increased funding pressures appear to be a small-bank problem rather than just a rural problem. This finding is tempered, however, by two important caveats. First, funding pressures could become more severe at rural banks than urban banks if rural investors begin investing as much of their wealth in mutual funds as urban investors do. Second, small-bank funding pressures are likely to have a bigger impact on rural borrowers because small businesses in rural areas are more dependent on small banks for loans.Rural areas ; Banking market ; Banks and banking ; Federal Reserve District, 10th ; Banks and banking

The transformation of banking and its impact on consumers and small businesses

The banking industry has undergone profound changes during the last decade. The most obvious change has been the large number of bank mergers, which have increased both the average size of banks and the area over which they operate. Other changes may also prove dramatic but are at this point just getting under way—the growth of Internet banking and the combination of banking with other financial services, such as insurance and securities underwriting.> The implications of these changes for the profitability and safety of banks have been widely discussed, but what do they mean for local economies? Some analysts argue that the changes will benefit most communities by increasing the public’s access to financial services and making it easier for banks to continue lending during regional economic downturns. Others argue that the changes will end up hurting many communities, especially smaller ones, because the large organizations created by mergers will be uninterested in serving small customers and will siphon off funds from smaller markets to lend in big cities.> To shed light on the debate, Keeton focuses on the two groups that are most likely to be affected by the transformation of banking—consumers and small businesses. He concludes that the recent changes in banking are likely to benefit consumers and small businesses in most communities, as long as they remain free to choose between small and large banks for their banking services.Bank mergers

Has multi-market banking changed the response of small business lending to local economic shocks?

The consolidation of the U.S. banking industry has greatly increased the importance of large multi-market banking organizations relative to smaller, single-market banks. An issue that has not received much attention is how multi-market banking has affected the response of local bank lending to local economic shocks. When an area is hit particularly hard by a recession, is bank lending now more likely to decline in the area, exacerbating the downturn? Or is bank lending now more likely to remain unchanged, moderating the downturn? The answer is important to local communities because it affects the volatility of their output and employment. But it is also important to the national economy, because the distribution of credit across markets can affect overall productivity and growth. ; Keeton uses new data to examine the impact on local lending of the slowdowns in some local economies during the 2001 recession and recovery. The basic approach is to see whether these slowdowns had a different effect on lending by single-market banks than on lending by multi-market banks. He finds substantial support for the view that the shift to multi-market banking has reduced the overall sensitivity of bank lending to local economic shocks. He also finds some evidence that this effect may be due to a lesser ability of multi-market banks to identify and respond to changes in local economic conditions.

Small business lending at Tenth District banks

One of the most important roles commercial banks perform is to lend to small businesses. Such lending is vital to the regional economy because small businesses generally lack access to alternative sources of credit and because they account for a major share of job creation. Moreover, small business lending is crucial to the health of district banks because it is one of the few profitable activities in which banks continue to enjoy clear advantages over other financial institutions.Bank loans ; Federal Reserve District, 10th ; Small business