The Banking Industry in SC

[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!

[gs3]

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]

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]

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.

[goodbye]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Spartan]

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.

Many smaller banks have no ATM fees, or allow you to use any ATM within certain networks identified by certain logos. For example: Arthur State Bank has no ATM fee. The fact that money stays within SC is just a bonus.

I use First Citizens because literally every small town or crossroad in this state has one, and in most cases they will have an FC over the larger national banks. The only downside is that when I move out of SC I will have to change banks.

[gs3]

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

Actually, the largest would be The South Financial Group which is based in Greenville and parent company to Carolina First. South Financial Group has 15 billion in assets, 8.7 of which is in it's Carolina First banking group. SFG is in the top 50 in assets in the US.

http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main.asp

[Spartan]

True, SF will be the largest once the move is complete.

So does this mean that Carolina First will be supplanted by SF? Or would their assets be counted separately, meaning SF would have 6.3 billion?

[teshadoh]

South Carolina National Bank (SCNB) used to be a massive SC bank. It covered the entire state & even in a minor market like Rock Hill (at the time at least) they had a large downtown office building. It was sad to see the bank go when NCNB bought it, which I think occured before they bought C&S becoming Nations Bank. Also there was another bank that was big - SC Federal, they may have been bought out by First Union or Wachovia (of course the same thing now). The only other major bank serving SC at the time was the out of state C&S.

[Spartan]

Does anyone think Carolina First, First Citizens, NBSC, etc. coudl ever fill the shoes of SCNB?