Sink or Swim: Concepts for Saving Small Institutions from Drowning

The market share for smaller financial institutions is shrinking at an alarming rate. A report released this last February by the Harvard Kennedy School on “The State and Fate of Community Banking” is capturing industry attention for its dire findings. According to the report’s authors, the community banks’ share of U.S. banking asset and lending markets has fallen by 50% in the last 20 years. Moreover, the rate of decline has increased significantly in the past four years—almost double the rate it had sunk in the previous 16 years of decline. Is there any good news? And what did the report find that can help the smaller financial institution stay afloat. [6/9/15]