Soon we will just have big banks with no community ties. The regulatory burden is too big for small banks. Cadence just bought industries bank shares, which was a group that bought up several small community banks around 2017. Cadence bought Bancorp south sometime during covid.

No sooner than they hang the Cadence sign in our hometown Cadence announces they are selling to Huntington Bank. Wonder how many of those small town locations are at risk of closing.

https://ir.huntington.com/news-presentations/press-releases/detail/951/huntington-bancshares-incorporated-to-acquire-cadence-bank

Small community everything has been dying for some time.

aTmneal said:

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Small community everything has been dying for some time.

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Yeah, it's bad. Easier for banks to give one quarter billion dollars loan to a corporation than a thousand 250,000 loans to local small business owners.

Especially if that money is backed up by a promise from the government or some other some corruption.

THEY don't want you independent.

aTmneal said:

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Small community everything has been dying for some time.

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Correct. I was in a community bank system back in the early 90s and it got absorbed into a larger regional bank which in turn got absorbed into an even larger regional bank. All of this in just the year and a half I worked there.

Coincidentally, they just had the Huntington CEO on CNBC yesterday talking about this acquisition and them buying Veritex in Dallas. He was obviously bragging about it which is why he was on there. 5th largest chain now or some such.

They wanted to be in the Texas market because that's where all the money is headed.

Lots of smaller businesses being gobbled up, like the vet industry. Getting rare to have privately owned clinics, all going into corporate blocks. Banks are no surprise.

Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

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Lots of smaller businesses being gobbled up, like the vet industry. Getting rare to have privately owned clinics, all going into corporate blocks. Banks are no surprise.

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It's everywhere. Even happened to the funeral home industry several years ago.

And now you have PE getting into every damn thing imaginable.

Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

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Lots of smaller businesses being gobbled up, like the vet industry. Getting rare to have privately owned clinics, all going into corporate blocks. Banks are no surprise.

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Big business loves these tariffs - the government is doing all the dirty work of putting smaller competitors out of business for them.

Same with banks, but due to other government meddling in the market.

"It's a Wonderful Life."

IYKYK

I don't guess you have a dollar store or a Walmart? Mom & pops are a relic in small towns. Besides I like my multi location small bank where I can whip in and get cash without having to pay a service charge

We use 2 banks. One big bank and one community credit union.

When we travel internationally or even domestically, having the big bank provides assurance in transactions. One of my kids was in Prague and his card got compromised. The CU just didn't have to things in place for us to help him.

Also, every time I try to get away from the big bank, either... they gobble up the small firm I used (mortgage, etc) OR... I find out it is just a private label the big bank uses to lure in unsuspecting people who don't want to bank with them.

We were with Happy State Bank, founded in Happy, Texas. Was fantastic, even after they expanded throughout Texas.

Bought out by Centennial, out of Arkansas. Went to crap immediately.

Started getting charged fees on everything. Most telling was that EVERYONE we knew that worked for them, quit. I'm talking Presidents and VPs at several branches. People we respected greatly.

We are now with an Education Credit Union.

I started my Business Account with Bank of the Southwest in 1990. Bought out by M Bank, which was bought out by Bank One, which was absorbed into J. P. Morgan Chase in 2004.

So in 14 years my account went from a small regional bank through 3 buyout/merges and is now with one of the largest banks in the world.

Everything is being Walmarted and Corporatized. Hell, if you go to a veterinarian these days, it's 50-50 it might be owned by a large corporation.

itsyourboypookie said:

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Soon we will just have big banks with no community ties. The regulatory burden is too big for small banks. Cadence just bought industries bank shares, which was a group that bought up several small community banks around 2017. Cadence bought Bancorp south sometime during covid.

No sooner than they hang the Cadence sign in our hometown Cadence announces they are selling to Huntington Bank. Wonder how many of those small town locations are at risk of closing.

https://ir.huntington.com/news-presentations/press-releases/detail/951/huntington-bancshares-incorporated-to-acquire-cadence-bank

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Same exact story. You may be from my town (or one of the other small towns were Industry Bank Shares had branches). Several of the local employees are now gone. I was already worried about the coming changes from Cadence, only to find out earlier this week it was going to change again early next year to Huntington. I have my business accounts there so it's going to be a major PITA to change banks, but I'll probably have to do it.

People really need to make an active effort to support small businesses.

Anyone remember TeamBank? Worked at the Oak Lawn branch for a couple of years in the early 90s.

I had been a customer of Guaranty Bank and Trust for 30 years (a 100-year-old bank run by local people) . They were just bought out Oct 1 by Glacier Bank out of Idaho. I am afraid that it too will be ruined by the large corporate bank mentality.

this is a consolidation of power. they rig the rules so only they can play and win. they then gobble up more power and money and eventually we have no choices. pretty easy to see where this is all leading on many different levels. toss in digital id and currency and the noose is getting tighter.

It almost like the Creature from Jekyll Island is right

Waffledynamics said:

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People really need to make an active effort to support small businesses.

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Small businesses need to support their local communities and not sell out to mega banks.

Unfortunately, they may have little choice

Credit unions have a lot of the vibes small community banks do, at least the ones I've dealt with.

aggiedent said:

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I started my Business Account with Bank of the Southwest in 1990. Bought out by M Bank, which was bought out by Bank One, which was absorbed into J. P. Morgan Chase in 2004.

So in 14 years my account went from a small regional bank through 3 buyout/merges and is now with one of the largest banks in the world.

Everything is being Walmarted and Corporatized. Hell, if you go to a veterinarian these days, it's 50-50 it might be owned by a large corporation.

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I was glad when Bank One was bought out and that name put to pasture. Bank One can forever burn in hell.

Does Aggieland Credit Union on University Drive still exist?
I had an account there in the 90s. I still use their red checkbook cover even now, after 30 years.I also have the carbon copies of the checks I wrote with them in 95 and 96.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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People really need to make an active effort to support small businesses.

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Small businesses need to support their local communities and not sell out to mega banks.

Unfortunately, they may have little choice

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Waffledynamics is more right. We have to support small businesses.

Back in 1998 whern I was out of A&M and was about to go to Walmart to buy something, my father's friend who helped me get settled here told me he shopped only at smaller shops. I wondered why and though it was a silly idea.

Now, almost 30 years later, I am his age then and I agree with him. We need to support small businesses and avoid Walmart like cos.

About 15 years ago, I went into a local branch, and asked about a particular type of loan. I was curious what options I had, for a project I was considering.

The bank rep took me into their office, I explained my plans to her, and asked about a few details.

She proceeded to call the 1-800 number to ask what options they offered.

I was astounded. I came into my local bank, with whom I have a relationship, to get good info/advice, and explore options as a customer. I could have called a 1-800 number from home. I didn't need to go into the office for that.

I went to another bank across the street, who we also did a little business with. They simply pulled up their website to see what options were available.

The staff at these locations change every other month. There is no long-term relationship with any of them. I struggled to see what their purpose is any longer.

Sad, but true.

Some years ago, there was a local bank in my area that boasted that they knew their customers personally, "unlike the big banks" and that was their main talking point.
Then they quietly sold out to a big bank and exited.

Money talks.

itsyourboypookie said:

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Soon we will just have big banks with no community ties. The regulatory burden is too big for small banks. Cadence just bought industries bank shares, which was a group that bought up several small community banks around 2017. Cadence bought Bancorp south sometime during covid.

No sooner than they hang the Cadence sign in our hometown Cadence announces they are selling to Huntington Bank. Wonder how many of those small town locations are at risk of closing.

https://ir.huntington.com/news-presentations/press-releases/detail/951/huntington-bancshares-incorporated-to-acquire-cadence-bank

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lot's of chaos at Industry Bancshares banks...... er.... Cadence Banks right now. The local people working in them are lost right now. And the Cadence people they brought in to help train are either rude or don't know much more. It's like they don't want to be there.

Ask me how I know.......

It's a sad situation honestly.

JayHowdy! said:

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I had been a customer of Guaranty Bank and Trust for 30 years (a 100-year-old bank run by local people) . They were just bought out Oct 1 by Glacier Bank out of Idaho. I am afraid that it too will be ruined by the large corporate bank mentality.

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I have been with Glacier for 6 years, no issues. I got a really good rate on a home improvement loan with my local Bank of San Juans (Glacier owned) that was 1% better than anything I could find after a lot of research.

Corporatization is part of the consequence of universal suffrage. If politicians served voters who all owned and ran private enterprises, taxes and policies would necessarily favor small businesses. But when a voting block is majority consumption focused; scale reigns and big pocket lobbyists can easily "incentivize" politicians to tip the scales increasingly in their favor.

aTmneal said:

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Small community everything has been dying for some time.

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And will continue so long as there's "growth and expansion" to be done to make shareholders make even more many t that they'll never be able to spend.

sam callahan said:

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It almost like the Creature from Jekyll Island is right

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Almost? The only thing that book got wrong was that "there's still time to fix it". There was never time. The cliff was farther away, but the brakes were already removed.

In HS I opened my first checking account at a small community bank. I came in every two weeks to deposit my paycheck, and all the ladies at the teller counter knew me. At one point I lost my wallet and ID, and they just ignored it when I came in to make my regular deposit. "We don't need that. We know who you are." Just before my HS graduation, I came in as usual and they handed me a graduation card with personal well wishes and signed by everyone at the bank with my deposit receipt.

You simply don't see that kind of service anywhere now. I wasn't a large account by any means, just a HS kid depositing his slightly more than minimum wage, part-time job paycheck every couple of weeks, but they knew me and went the extra mile anyway.

What happened to monopolization being a bad thing...the precise answer to this question is probably complicated, but does any of this violate sherman anti trust sections, or any other monopolization laws/regulations?

Related to this thread....Bessent and Chief Warren are calling for the FDIC insurance cap to increase from $250k to......$10M.

I wonder why that is.