Commercial banks in Orange County grew local deposits by nearly 8% last year after three straight years of gains averaging 2.6% a year.
This week’s Business Journal list ranks the 40 largest banks with operations in Orange County by the level of deposits held at their OC branches.
The banks collectively had $76.8 billion in deposits as of June 30, up from about $71.2 billion a year ago, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Deposit totals for 27 banks increased over the 12-month period through June, with the others posting year-over-year decreases.
The majority of the banks are headquartered outside the county, including some with foreign-based parent corporations. Eight of the nine banks based in Orange County are in Irvine, and one is in Costa Mesa.
The list also includes the number of employees at each bank’s OC operations, as well as the latest tally of branches, although those figures don’t affect the rankings.
The banks employ 19,677 here, up 2.3%, and opened 107 branches in OC during the past year, a 17% increase for a total of 719. The average deposit per branch was roughly $107 million.
• Wells Fargo Bank maintained the No. 1 spot with $18.2 billion in OC deposits, an 8% growth year-over-year. The San Francisco-based bank has commercial banking offices in Irvine and Orange, along with 115 branches in the county after opening about a dozen in the past year. It increased its OC workforce by about 18% last year, hiring more than 770 employees for a total of 5,129.
• No. 2 Bank of America Corp. had $15.5 billion in local deposits, up 9%. It’s the largest employer on the list, with 5,500 workers in OC, flat from a year earlier. Bank of America has 87 branches here, down by one.
• Chase Bank remained at No. 3 after a 10% gain to $8.5 billion. The New York-based bank employs 2,150 workers here after cutting about 330 jobs over the past year. It opened several branches here in 2013, including in La Palma, Fountain Valley and Laguna Hills, and now operates 94 locations.
“We really have been very strategic about where we locate our branches and [how to be] more convenient to our customers,” said Morris Churchill, OC market manager for consumer and community banking.
“It’s also about hiring the right people … Our folks have done a nice job, prior to opening a branch, of being very active out in the marketplace [and] getting heavily involved in the community. So when we open a branch, we’ve made all these friends in the marketplace, and we’re just continuing to nurture the relationships.”
• No. 4 Union Bank grew its OC deposits by 15% to $5.3 billion. Its U.S. headquarters is in San Francisco, and it’s part of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. It had a net gain of 15 employees in its OC offices during the past year for a total of 1,545.
• Los Angeles-based CapitalSource Bank grew its Orange County deposits by nearly 16% to $1.5 billion, moving up one spot to No. 10. CapitalSource has an estimated 139 employees here spread across an administrative office in Brea and six branch locations.
• First Foundation Bank moved up six spots to No. 18, thanks to a 34% increase in local deposits to $585.7 million. The Irvine-based bank has an estimated 124 employees here. It operates one branch in OC that recently moved from Irvine to Newport Beach and has the highest deposits-per-branch total.
“We really re-emphasized our focus last year on the high-net-worth individuals and their businesses,” First Foundation Chief Executive Scott Kavanaugh said.
He said a key factor behind the overall growth of the bank in the past year was its ability “to cross-sell between financial planning, trust services, foundation administration—all the things that First Foundation does … in more than just lending and depository services.”
• Irvine-based Banc of California Inc. debuted on the list at No. 14 after changing its charter last year to that of a national bank. Its deposit base totaled $677.5 million, more than double the year-earlier amount of $293.2 million. The 131% increase was the largest percentage jump on the list.
• The other newcomer was Shinhan Bank America, part of Seoul, Korea-based Shinhan Bank. It had $220 million in deposits across two branches in OC, good for the No. 37 spot.
Some banks whose OC deposits shrank included:
• Dallas-based Comerica Bank, whose local deposits dropped nearly 28% to $635.4 million. It slipped five spots to No. 17. Comerica has 14 branches and 220 employees, both unchanged from a year ago, and has one of the smallest deposit-per-branch totals on the list, at $45 million.
• Irvine-based Pacific Premier Bank fell to No. 27 after a 15% decrease in local deposits to $401.8 million. The bank has 127 employees, down 16% year-over-year, and five branches, the same as last year.
Savings and Loans
The list of Orange County’s savings and loans institutions shortened this year. The three entries are Pasadena-based OneWest Bank FSB, which has 11 branches in OC; Santa Ana-based First American Trust; and a Newport Beach office of Plano, Texas-based Beal Bank.
The three combined for $2.6 billion in OC deposits as of June 30, down about 1% from a year earlier. The companies have 477 employees here, with the only year-over-year change at First American Trust, which made three hires.
Includes the 2014 OC’s COMMERCIAL BANKS/SAVINGS LOANS list for download (pdf)
Download the 2014 OC’s COMMERCIAL BANKS/SAVINGS LOANS list (pdf)
