Commercial lending up at community banks.Community banks across the nation boosted their lending during the first quarter, according to a report released by SNL Financial on May 10. Banks with fewer than $10 billion in assets experienced nearly 2 percent median loan growth compared to the first quarter of 2012. This performance correlated with asset size. Banks with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion grew lending the most — 5.67 percent. Banks with assets between $100 million and $1 billion grew lending 2.13 percent, and banks with fewer than $100 million in assets increased lending by 0.77 percent. Midwest banks with assets of less than $10 billion lagged the rest of the nation. Across the country, banks in that asset category grew their loan portfolios by 1.96 percent, whereas Midwestern community banks' loan portfolios grew 1.84 percent..Majority of TARP banks also 'problem' banks.Of the banks still remaining in the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, more than half are seen as "problem" institutions by the FDIC, according to a report released on May 7 by the Government Accountability Office. In 2009, Treasury disbursed $205 billion to 707 banks through TARP. Of the 534 banks that have left TARP since then, 203 institutions bought back their preferred shares or the debt they issued to the government. Another 165 banks refinanced their investments through other federal programs, such as the Small Business Lending Fund. GAO gained access to the FDIC problem bank list and found that of the 173 banks still in the TARP program, 107 are on the FDIC's list as of March 31. GAO also found that 52 percent of banks in the program missed their most recent TARP payment..Midwest has lowest student debt and delinquency.The Midwest has the lowest average student debt per borrower and the lowest percent of delinquent student debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Across the country, the average borrower carries $24,810 in student debt. With the exception of Illinois, borrowers in Midwest states are below that average. Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota lead the nation with the lowest average at less than $22,000 per borrower. The national average for delinquency on student debt is 11.7 percent. Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Wisconsin lead the country with the lowest delinquency rates at less than 9 percent; the remaining Midwestern states are at or below the average. .Some customers will leave when branch closes.Nearly 28 percent of consumers polled would leave their bank if it closed their local branch, according to survey results published by Synergistics Research. Questioning 1,000 consumers online, the Atlanta-based firm found that three in 10 consumers had moved their accounts to another institution because of a branch closing within the last year. About 25 percent of bank customers polled said the branch closure changed their impression of the bank for the worse. Another 27 percent understood, saying it was probably a necessary action on the institution's part. Another 25 percent said it made them feel insecure about the safety of their deposits, and 23 percent said they hadn't paid it much notice.
