How Many Banks in the USA?

Banks have an essential role to play in the financial well-being of individuals and businesses alike. They provide basic services such as money storage and management, processing payments, and lending. Understanding the banking landscape including how many banks are available is necessary for your own financial wellbeing.

Number of Banks

According to December 2022 data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), there were 4,715 banks in the US. In comparison with last year that had 4,983 banks, this was slightly decreased.

It should be noted that this figure includes all FDIC-insured institutions like commercial banks and savings and loan associations (S&Ls).

Types of Banks

Different financial needs are catered for in a diverse US banking system. Here is an overview of the main players:

1. Commercial Banks:These are the most familiar entities, which provide a wide variety of services such as:

Checking and savings accounts: Where clients can make daily transactions and save money for both short-term and long-term objectives.
Loans: Which include mortgages, car loans, student loans, business loans etc.
Online banking: Enabling convenient access and secure management of finances from any location.
Investment services: That help clients with their wealth management and investments.

As at December 2022 , FDIC reported a total of 4,210 FDIC-insured commercial banks operating in USA thereby forming the foundation of the financial system.

2. Savings and Loan Associations (S&Ls): Historically they have concentrated on:

Savings accounts: Specifically designed to encourage saving for longer term goals such as buying homes through higher interest rates than those provided by typical banks.
Home loans: Primarily targeted at first-time home buyers and specific communities when specializing in mortgage lending at the onset.

However, over time, this distinction has faded. Many S&Ls now also offer such additional amenities as checking accounts or various types of loans. Currently there exist 498 FDIC-insured S&Ls operating in USA.

3. Beyond FDIC-insured institutions: There are financial institutions that are not documented by FDIC data that we need to recognize:

Credit Unions: These are non-profit-making cooperatives owned by members who provide financial products like checking/savings accounts ,loans ,online banking etc . Unlike their counterparts credit unions lay emphasis on member benefits such as reduced charges and profits sharing instead of profit making.
State-owned Banks: A few states have state-owned banks that do not come under FDIC insurance cover but operate under state regulations .These banks usually serve specific purposes within their respective states such as supporting economic development or rendering specialized services.

While the FDIC data is a valuable resource for understanding the number of FDIC-insured institutions, it may be necessary to look beyond this and incorporate other players in the system like credit unions and state-owned banks to have a better perspective of the vast US banking industry.

What Are the Differences Between Banks?

Differentiation between national, regional and community banks is important as these classifications narrow down the choice of your banking partner according to your specific needs and preference.

1. National Banks:

Size: These are the largest lenders in the US with assets above $100 billion and a national presence.
Characteristics: They offer different types of financial products such as commercial banking, consumer banking, investment banking and wealth management.
Benefits: They often have lots of resources and advanced technological systems, which could result in competitive rates and wider product offerings.
Drawbacks: TTheir scale might make them service smaller local firms less compared to bigger companies.

2. Regional Banks:

Size: They usually operate within defined geographical regions instead of serving the whole country usually having assets that range from $10bn to $100bn.
Characteristics: They also have a similar range of products just like national banks but they concentrate on their respective areas potentially enabling deeper relationships with small businesses or communities at large.
Benefits: These can be seen as an intermediary between national banks’ wide variety of products and services and community bank’s personalized service.
Drawbacks: Its reach may be limited compared to that of nation’s bank since it may have fewer locations with slightly narrower product line.

3. Community Banks:

Size: These are the smallest ones that focus on specific local communities, usually below $10bn worth of total assets.gets to know its customers by name.
Characteristics: Typically, they specialize in personal savings catered for individuals other than public issues while lending decisions may be made more flexibly contradicting policies which inhibit credit access by small businesses.
Benefits: They form strong ties with their neighborhoods thus giving customized services including competitive deposit interest rates, loans tailored specifically for local enterprises.
Drawbacks: They may not be able to provide certain products unlike larger institutions and could have lesser branch networks.

Additional Points

Comprehending the vast of quantities and forms of banks in the US represents simply one aspect. You may consider these additional points:

Factors influencing the number of banks:

Mergers and Acquisitions: This is a constant thing as smaller banks have been merging with bigger ones, reducing financial institutions on the whole.
Regulations: However, changes in regulation and economic conditions can facilitate or complicate bank establishment thus influencing their overall numbers.

Addressing common questions:

Different across states: For instance, populous states tend to have more banks than sparsely populated ones. Detailed state data such as this can be found by using sources like FDIC’s website.
Comparison to other countries: Compared to some other developed countries, the U.S. banking system is relatively concentrated. Therefore fewer banks are left to serve many people which brings about competitive and access-related implications on financial markets.

Top 20 US Banks by Asset Size

The previous segments above mainly focused on the general number as well as the kind of banks in America, but this also entails acknowledging who dominates them based on what they own.

According to Federal Reserve data for December 31, 2023 here are top 20 US banks by total assets:

Rank	Bank Name	Headquarters	Total Assets (in billions of USD)
1	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	New York City	3,898
2	Bank of America	Charlotte, North Carolina	3,153
3	Citigroup	New York City	2,368
4	Wells Fargo	San Francisco, California	1,909
5	Goldman Sachs	New York City	1,577
6	Morgan Stanley	New York City	1,169
7	U.S. Bancorp	Minneapolis, Minnesota	668
8	PNC Financial Services	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	557
9	Truist Financial	Charlotte, North Carolina	542
10	TD Bank, N.A.	Cherry Hill, New Jersey	511
11	Charles Schwab Corporation	Westlake, Texas	475
12	Capital One	McLean, Virginia	471
13	The Bank of New York Mellon	New York City	405
14	BMO USA	Chicago, Illinois	291
15	State Street Corporation	Boston, Massachusetts	284
16	Huntington Bancshares Incorporated	Columbus, Ohio	181
17	Ally Financial Inc.	Detroit, Michigan	176
18	KeyCorp	Cleveland, Ohio	168
19	American Express Company	New York City	163
20	Fifth Third Bancorp	Cincinnati, Ohio	157