A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article (June 14, 2025) reported that there were almost half a million more sellers than buyers in April. That is just one of many recent reports that caused us to pose this question. As we…
Interest Margins to Brag About
The Federal Reserve left the Fed Funds interest rate unchanged again at its meeting last week, but we know it is just a matter of time before that changes. The most important thing (for us anyway) is how banks will…
New Credit Union Data and Star-Ratings
All credit union star-ratings and financial data have now been updated with March 31, 2025 data. Overall, first quarter credit union data was positive: assets, including most loans, were up and credit quality is generally still quite good. However, uninsured…
Bank Deposits Migrate into Interest-Bearing Accounts
Nearly 80% of U.S. banks reported increases in total deposits. A similar percentage of banks reported increases in interest-bearing deposits but the same cannot be said for non-interest-bearing, or core, deposits. Today, the average net interest margin at our nation’s banks is at…
New Bank Data and Star-Ratings
All bank star-ratings have now been updated to reflect March 31, 2025 financial data. The good news was that industry net income was a healthy $70.6 billion. However, the percent of noncurrent loans (90 days or more past due) increased…
More than 27,000 Bankers Lost Their Jobs in 2024
After several years of losing employees by way of a slow taper, the banking industry hired robustly during and after the COVID shutdown. By 2023, the industry was ready to shed some of those new hires, and it did so.…
Commercial Loans and the “R” Word
The dreaded “R” word – Recession – has been making its way into more conversations lately. We are not prepared to say that a recession is imminent, or is even coming, but we like to be ready for any circumstance…
Credit Unions Acquiring Banks
All 2024/25 completed transactions, as well as those that have been announced, can be found inside this issue. The average asset size of the “announced” (not yet completed) is $469 million. As the assets moving from the bank industry to the…
Credit Unions on a Shopping Spree
In 2024, federally-insured credit unions registered their smallest 4-quarter asset increase (just 2.3%) in quite some time. Those looking to grow, however, have found ways to do so. In this week’s issue we look at 50 credit unions that grew…
There’s More than 1 Way to Grow a Bank
This week’s focus is on well-rated banks that are growing their deposits organically, like those listed in Jumbo Rate News. We concede that JRN does have its limits, though, as we only list rates of banks that will take corporate…