While awaiting the final FDIC quarterly statistics, preliminary analysis shows that the banking industry consolidation slowed significantly in 2020, showing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Banking Industry Consolidation Rate slowed to 3.2% in 2020, down from 4.2% in 2019.

The Bank Merger Rate also fell from 4.2% in 2019 to 3.2% in 2020.

The Bank Failure Rate remained low at 0.1%, comparable to the 2019 rate.

And the De Novo Bank Replenishment Rate fell to 4.2% during 2020 from 5.7% during 2019. That is, only 4 de novo banks replaced every 100 banks that failed or merged.

The impact of COVID-19 was very significant during Q4 and would be expected to have depressing effect on bank mergers during the first and second quarters of 2021.

These banking industry consolidation figures will be updated when the FDIC reports their official Q4 numbers in March.