by Erik Keith

Created on: December 18, 2008

CONSUMERS' INTEREST HIGH AT COMMUNITY BANKS

It took $4 gasoline to get folks to think about their driving habits. Similarly, it looks like a meltdown of the megabanks and other financial institutions is prompting consumers to think about where they are putting their money, who they can trust and what results they should expect. And much of their hard earned cash is flowing into deposits at community banks:

According to the FDIC, banks with less than $10 billion in assets, community banks, have seen an increase in deposit growth this year from a minus 0.77% in Q1 to a positive 2.06% in Q3. Larger banks witnessed a 3.81% decline in growth of deposits for the same period. The Federal Reserve reported that October deposits and lending at community banks outpaced the overall industry. Between October 1 and October 22, community banks saw deposits rise 1.1 percent, or nearly $27 billion, to more than $2.4 trillion. For the same period, the nation's 30 largest U.S. chartered banks saw $44 billion, or 1.2 percent of deposits, walk out the door, leaving them with less than $3.8 trillion.

REWARDChecking, a free checking account offered by more than 450 community financial institutions across the country, reported a 96% jump in deposits in the third quarter of this year.

"Through products like REWARDChecking, community financial institutions are winning back customers from the faltering megabanks and investment houses," said Don Shafer, Chairman of BancVue, a leading provider of products and consulting to community banking institutions. "Americans are indicating that they enjoy investing their money locally, and they benefit from high yields, fiscal safety and customer service."

Higher yields on short term deposits like those found on CheckingFinder.com are certainly fueling interest in community banks. Month-to-month applications on CheckingFinder.com, a website that connects consumers with community financial institutions offering high-yield checking accounts, jumped 14% from July to August, 46% from August to September, and 53% from September to October. A small sampling of applicants on the site indicated nearly seven out of 10 were moving their funds to community financial institutions from large banks.

Examples of the yields found at community banks compared to those higher yielding shorter term deposits at megabanks (as of December 15) includes:

COMMUNITY BANKS YIELDS PRODUCT

Community Bank of Pleasant Hill, MO 6.10%
High-yield Checking

First Robinson Bank, IL 6.01%
High-yield Checking

Legence Bank, IL 6.01% High-yield Checking

Community Bank of Raymore, MO 6.01% High-yield Checking

Three Rivers FCU, IN 6.01% High-yield Checking

Florida Central Credit Union, FL 6.01%
High-yield Checking

Union State Bank/Bank of Atchison, KS 6.01% High-yield Checking

Bank of Granite, NC 6.00% High-yield Checking

MEGABANKS

WAMU 5.00%
CD (5 years)

eLoan 4.75%
CD (6 years)

Schwab 3.60% CD (18 months)

ING 3.75% CD (1 year)

HSBC 3.50% CD (1 year)

Countrywide (BofA) 3.10% CD (9 months)

eTRADE 2.25% CD (12 month)

"Three years ago the issue of 'how secure is my money?' was literally not on the consumer's radar; today, the future viability of the nation's largest banks is," continued Shafer. "Not so with community banking, a system that has endeared trust by its roots and not by its branches."

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