Bank of America loses title of largest U.S. bank by deposits

For nearly 20 years, Bank of America held the distinction of largest U.S. bank by deposits.

Not anymore.

JPMorgan Chase has leaped ahead of the Charlotte-based bank, which now ranks a close second behind its New York-based rival in total deposits, according to federal data released this month. The development means another first-place title for JPMorgan, which was already the biggest U.S. bank by assets and market capitalization.

JPMorgan touted the accomplishment in a press release, noting that it’s the first time in 23 years the bank has been No. 1 in the U.S. for deposits. The firm said consumers and businesses added $96 billion to their JPMorgan bank accounts in the past year.

Over the past year, Bank of America has also added deposits, with its total rising 5.3 percent. But JPMorgan’s grew by even more, increasing 7.9 percent.

Bank of America had been tops in total U.S. deposits since the 1998 merger of Charlotte’s NationsBank and San Francisco’s BankAmerica, the deal that created Bank of America.

Every year since, Bank of America kept a grip on its first-place spot, while second place passed back and forth between San Francisco’s Wells Fargo and JPMorgan.

But JPMorgan kept shrinking its gap with Bank of America, and as of June 30, it had $1.31 trillion in deposits, compared with Bank of America’s $1.29 trillion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The data includes everything from deposits kept in a consumer savings accounts to deposits owned by corporations.

A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment.

Nathan Stovall, Charlotte-based senior research analyst for S&P Global Market Intelligence, noted that JPMorgan’s first-place ranking for deposits comes as CEO Jamie Dimon has pushed to boost the firm’s deposit base. JPMorgan has been establishing branches in recent years in metro areas, like Atlanta, even while trimming branches elsewhere, Stovall said.

Bank of America lost its title at a time when it hasn’t been raising interest rates paid to account holders as quickly as some competitors. Stovall said the bank has been able to move slower in raising rates because it provides customers other benefits, such as a large and convenient branch network.

JPMorgan’s deposit jump comes after it overtook Bank of America in 2011 to be the largest U.S. bank by assets. As of June 30, JPMorgan had $2.6 trillion in assets, compared with Bank of America’s $2.3 trillion.

Last year, JPMorgan also surpassed Wells Fargo as the biggest U.S. bank by market capitalization, the combined dollar value of all its outstanding shares. Wells lost the title when its stock dropped following revelations of a major sales scandal.

The shuffle in the deposit ranking follows years of Bank of America continuing to shrink its branch network, in part through selling financial centers. Bank of America has described cutting branches in areas where foot traffic is low, while still opening smaller branches in other markets.

Bank of America’s branch count fell about 3.2 percent from a year ago, compared with about a 2.5 percent drop at JPMorgan, according to an S&P analysis Monday.

Stovall said Bank of America’s drop in branches might have been a factor in JPMorgan overtaking it in deposits. But he pointed out that Bank of America has been growing deposits even with shedding branches.

Though Bank of America lost the overall deposits title, it’s still No. 1 in the U.S. for consumer deposits, according to S&P data.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Bank of America loses title of largest U.S. bank by deposits."