Bank deposits show solid area market growth

Bank deposits in the Reno-Sparks market increased by about 4.8 percent last year, a number that bankers characterized as solid, if unremarkable, growth.

Wells Fargo, whose executives don't put much stock in the importance of measurements of deposits, continued as the market-share leader. It's home to more than 28 percent of the deposits in Washoe County.

Bank deposits in the Reno-Sparks market totaled $6.96 billion on June 30, the FDIC reported.

That figure, as well as the market-share data in this article, doesn't include some $11.7 billion in deposits held by Charles Schwab Bank. The bank is headquartered in Reno, but collects deposits from throughout the world.

In Carson City, bank deposits on June 30 were up about 1.7 percent over year-earlier numbers. They totaled $1.1 billion, not counting some $225.8 million in deposits held by Imperial Capital Bank, another bank that collects deposits nationally and holds them in northern Nevada.

Wells Fargo also is the market share leader in the Capital City with a 22.7 percent share, once Imperial Capital's deposits are factored out.

The numbers indicate "good, solid growth and good business growth," said David Funk, president of Nevada Security Bank.

He noted, however, that the growth doesn't touch the increases of earlier this decade, when bank deposits in northern Nevada sometimes rose at double-digit annual percentage rates.

Jim DeVolld, president of First Independent Bank of Nevada, noted that community banks picked up a bit more of the deposit growth than did Wells Fargo or Bank of America, which holds the second position in market share both in Reno-Sparks and Carson City.

Posting big deposit growth this year was 1st National Bank of Nevada. Its Washoe County deposits on June 30 stood at $649.1 million compared with $419.6 million a year earlier.

Chad Osorno, Wells Fargo's regional president in northern Nevada, said his executive team pays little attention to deposits as a measurement of bank performance.

But the metrics they do watch the number of relationships the bank has with a household, for instance continue to show strong growth in the region, he said.

"We've grown the number of relationships in our market by 2, 3 percent," Osorno said.

Richard Veitz, executive vice president and chief community banking officer for Nevada State Bank, said the battle for deposits is fierce in Nevada and elsewhere.

"Deposits are king right now," he said.

Veitz noted that the real estate slowdown means that banks are holding less money from that sector the big deposits in the accounts of title companies, for instance.

At the same time, he said traditional brick-and-mortar institutions with far-flung branch networks feel pressured by lean Internet bankers who can offer higher rates and woo away deposits.

"It's a very competitive market," Veitz said.

The FDIC noted that the number of bank offices in the Reno-Sparks area increased to 89 on June 30, up by three from a year earlier. The number of bank offices in Carson City 23 was unchanged from a year ago.