How Have Total Deposits Held By The Largest U.S. Banks Changed Over The Last 5 Years?
The 5 largest U.S. banks together held more than $5 trillion in deposits over 2016 – considerably higher than the $4.2 trillion total for full year 2012. The following table shows average deposits for each bank in a year since 2012, as detailed in their latest SEC filings.
Total deposits for the five largest U.S. banks have grown 4% annually since 2012. While this is sizable growth given the massive deposit base managed by these banks, it should be noted that the total deposit base of all U.S. commercial banks increased from $8.8 trillion in 2012 to over $11.2 trillion in 2016 – indicating an average annual growth figure in excess of 6%. This difference is primarily due to sluggish growth in the deposit base for Bank of America, while Citigroup’s decision to exit retail banking operations in several countries coupled with negative exchange rate movements negatively impacted the value of the bank’s foreign deposits in dollar terms. That said, the total figure also benefited from an above-average growth in deposits for Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp – two banks that made the most of the mortgage refinance wave of 2012 to also grow their other retail banking offerings.
Deposits across U.S. commercial banks have grown sharply since 2010 due to the prevailing low interest rate environment since the economic downturn. This is because the resulting lack of lucrative investment options forced investors to shift a bulk of their liquid assets into interest-bearing deposits. Although the Fed hiked benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points in December 2014, and again by 25 basis points last December, the overall interest rate environment has yet to show any palpable signs of improvement. With the Fed likely to hike interest rates an average of three times each year over 2017-19, individuals as well as institutions should be able to access better investment options over subsequent months. This should reduce the deposit growth rate going forward.
The chart below shows U.S. Bancorp’s total deposit base over the years and our forecast for it going forward. You can see how changes to this figure affects our price estimate for the bank by modifying the forecast.
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