Through the end of 2019, the banking industry continues to undergo its steady state of consolidation.

For the year-ended 2019, the Banking Industry Consolidation Rate was 4.2%. This compares to an average rate of 3.6% since 1990.

The Bank Merger Rate was 4.2% during 2019. And the Bank Failure Rate was a nominal 0.1%.

New bank openings rose in 2019 - totaling 13. The De Novo Bank Replenishment Rate was 5.7%. That is, for every 100 banks that merged or failed, there were approximately 6 new banks opened to replace those banks.

And, as may be expected, the industry consolidation had its impact on the smaller sized Community Banks.

Community Banks under $100 million in Total Assets declined by 9.6% and Community Banks with Total Assets of under $250 million dropped 5.8%. Community Banks with less than $500 million in Total Assets fell 3.3%. And those Community Banks with less than $1 billion in Total Assets were down approximately 0.5%.

Beyond $1 billion in Total Assets, we started to see net growth in the number of banks. With Community Banks between $1 billion and $10 billion increasing by 2.8%.

During 2019, we saw the continuation of a four decade long trend in the reduction of banks. As we enter the new decade, we would expect this trend to continue - and at this 3.5% to +4% Banking Industry Consolidation Rate.