The US Is Paying the Price for Being Overbanked
Canada has fewer banks than the state of North Dakota.
When Signature Bank of New York was taken into receivership this month, depositors as far away as Arkansas, Georgia and Ohio took fright. That’s because there are four Signature Banks in the US, and customers weren’t immediately sure which one was in trouble. Signature Bank of Arkansas sent out this tweet: “Just a friendly reminder that we are Signature Bank >>of Arkansas<<” before following up with a formal public announcement.
That there are so many Signature Banks is a reflection of how many banks there are in America overall. At the end of last year, there were 4,706 commercial banks in the country, far more than anywhere else. Canada has fewer banks than the single state of North Dakota. Japan has just 4% the number of banks. The European Union is much more fragmented, but it has 1.2 banks per 100,000 people, compared with America’s 1.4.