80 replies to this topic

[krazeeboi]

As of late, there seems to have been quite a bit a news about locally-owned banks across the state expanding and growing. The Carolina First expansion in Greenville, First Citizens building a new tower in Columbia, First Reliance planning a new HQ building in Florence, etc., are all examples. In Rock Hill, Carolina First and NBSC are opening branches. So how will our locally-owned banks stack up to the big boys in the South, such as BOA, Wachovia, Regions, etc.? Will they sell out, or grow and expand? What do you guys think?

[monsoon]

If you are speaking from a size perspective then no other bank in the south comes close to comparing to BofA or Wachovia.  I personally think banking is heading into two directions.  The big 5 will continue to get bigger, and at the other end are the very small banks that specifically cater to a community or specality.    All of the regional banks are going to eventually disappear.

[The_sandlapper]

I think our banks can take off it just depends on which local industry they decide to get behind. We didn't have tobacco and funiture but anything is possible!

[gsupstate]

krazeeboi, on Apr 20 2006, 01:50 PM, said:

The Carolina First expansion in Greenville

It's the "South Financial Group" expansion, and while no where near as large as mega B of A or Wachovia, it is the 40th largest banking company in the US.  Largest by far in SC.

[Spartan]

Authur State Bank out of Union is expanding quite rapidly. I read about local banks in Spartanburg expanding as well. Spartanburg National Bank comes to mind, though there are others.

[krazeeboi]

gsupstate, on Apr 20 2006, 09:54 PM, said:

It's the "South Financial Group" expansion, and while no where near as large as mega B of A or Wachovia, it is the 40th largest banking company in the US.  Largest by far in SC.

You are correct about the name. I believe the South Financial Group is the umbrella for Carolina First, am I correct?

[jfl25]

Thats correct South Financial is Carolina Firsts parent company.

[waccamatt]

monsoon, on Apr 20 2006, 02:16 PM, said:

If you are speaking from a size perspective then no other bank in the south comes close to comparing to BofA or Wachovia.  I personally think banking is heading into two directions.  The big 5 will continue to get bigger, and at the other end are the very small banks that specifically cater to a community or specality.    All of the regional banks are going to eventually disappear.

Metro is absolutely right on the money with his statement. I have spent my career in banking and that is exactly the future of the industry. It is one of the reasons I am in the credit union industry, now, instead of banking - I didn't want to be transferred all over the place/gobbled up in mergers/laid off. The lack of large financial institutions based in South Carolina is a major blemish on our economy.

[Skyliner]

It is currently a blemish, however, we can always hope to grow one or two future powerhouses, even if our wishes prove futile.  The more support we give our home-based banks, the stronger they become.  It is a noble cause, regardless of any potential mergers in the end.

[perrykat]

I heard last year that The Palmetto Bank may be expanding, but I don't know what's going on now.  TPB is one of the best local banks I've ever dealt with -- they're pretty big here in Laurens, important to the economy.

[Spartan]

waccamatt, on Apr 28 2007, 01:50 PM, said:

I think there have been financing issues. We are seeing the problem with all of the major SC banks being bought out, unfortunately.

Which banks?

[waccamatt]

Spartan, on Apr 28 2007, 04:46 PM, said:

Which banks?

The are no longer any banks based in South Carolina that can finance a large project like the one proposed for the Kline site. SCN got bought out by Wachovia a number of years ago, C&S was bought out by Nationsbank, now B of A, etc. There are no large banks based in SC. I think First Citizens is the largest, but they couldn't finance a 200 million or so project themselves.

[krazeeboi]

^Greenville-based Carolina First Bank would be the largest in SC in terms of total assets; I think it ranks #40 or so in that regard, so that gives you an idea of how much we have to work with here in SC.

[Spartan]

Interesting. It doesn't help that we are caught between Charlotte, the nation's second largest financial center, and Atlanta. The other problem as I see it is that it seems like people start small banks to sell them off. I don't understand the "banking" mentality at all. All I can say is that as long as I live in South Carolina, I will only use South Carolina banks. I firmly believe in supporting the local economy.

Here are the top 25 South Carolina banks based on assets. All figures are in thousands of dollars. So Carolina First would be $8.7 billion, First Citizens would be $5.6 billion, NBSC would be $4.2 billion, etc. These stats are available for any bank on the FDIC website. This means that no SC banks even crack the top 100 in the USA.

Note that there are only 6 banks in SC that have over $1 billion in assets. NC has 17, Georgia has 14, Alabama has 7 (but one that is over $100 billion (Regions bank).

Carolina First Bank									   Greenville   8,711,653	   
First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, Inc.			   Columbia 	5,676,854 	
The National Bank of South Carolina 					  Sumter	   4,215,742 	
First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston  Charleston   2,610,176 	
South Carolina Bank and Trust, National Association 	  Orangeburg   1,931,060 	
Coastal Federal Bank 									 Myrtle Beach 1,663,025 	
The Palmetto Bank 										Laurens	  1,153,915 	
First Palmetto Savings Bank, F.S.B. 					  Camden		 873,742 	
The Conway National Bank								  Conway		 836,843 	
Security Federal Bank									 Aiken		  714,353 	
CapitalBank 											  Greenwood	  711,990 	
Community Resource Bank, National Association 			Orangeburg	 575,512 	
Arthur State Bank 										Union		  550,648 
First Community Bank, National Association				Lexington	  546,457 	
Beach First National Bank								 Myrtle Beach   511,252 	
Greenville First Bank, N.A.							   Greenville	 507,336 	
First National Bank of the South 						 Spartanburg	466,722 	
SouthCoast Community Bank								 Mount Pleasant 463,411 	
First Reliance Bank									   Florence	   458,504 	 
Community FirstBank of Charleston						 Charleston	 435,617 	
Provident Community Bank, National Association			Rock Hill	  388,144 	
Bank of Travelers Rest 								   Travelers Rest 359,434 	
Greer State Bank										  Greer		  357,861 	
Crescent Bank 											Myrtle Beach   357,542 	
Horry County State Bank								   Loris		  355,413

[g-man430]

^^^I'm with Wachovia, so I kind of went the other way there.

[TheSuperPope]

^ditto

[GvilleSC]

Greenville First hasn't been around long at all. They're growing fast and expanding across the state now. It will be interesting to see how high they climb in the near future.

[krazeeboi]

Even though I feel somewhat guilty for not banking primarily with a state-based bank, I do a lot of traveling and none of those banks have a sizable presence outside of SC from what I've seen. As much as I use ATMs to get cash, I don't want those fees for using another bank's ATM to start piling up on me. But I think I might open a savings account with one of our banks soon.

[GvilleSC]

krazeeboi, on Apr 29 2007, 04:49 PM, said:

Even though I feel somewhat guilty for not banking primarily with a state-based bank, I do a lot of traveling and none of those banks have a sizable presence outside of SC from what I've seen. As much as I use ATMs to get cash, I don't want those fees for using another bank's ATM to start piling up on me. But I think I might open a savings account with one of our banks soon.

I understand that! I bank with a local bank that has 3 locations and zero ATMs. Cash back at the grocery store, etc is my best friend.

[g-man430]

^^^There are several South Carolina banks that let you use other banks ATM's without charging you.