Upstate counties, by the balance sheet

By Dick Hughes  

OCTOBER 14, 2010 11:29 a.m. (0)

Greenville County holds onto its position as South Carolina’s richest and most competitive banking environment by deposits and banking offices, according to the FDIC’s 2010 summary of market share.

Spartanburg County was fourth in deposits with $4.81 billion, a gain of $600 million, which increased the county’s share of the state deposit market from 6 percent to 6.9 percent. It has 80 banking offices.

Greenville led in deposits with $10.46 billion, down slightly from $10.54 billion reported in the FDIC’s 2009 report. The county’s share of the market declined from 15.10 percent to 14.88 percent.  The number of banking offices remained at 170.

Richland had $9.63 billion in deposits, down nearly $500 million, and its share of the market fell from 14.50 to 13.72 percent.  Richland reported 105 banking offices, five less than in the 2009 report.

Charleston County is third with $7.9 billion in deposits, an 11.7 percent market share, both slightly better than in the 2009 report.  Charleston has 142 offices, one more than previously.

Carolina First, which now is part of TD Bank, a branch of Toronto Dominion Bank of Canada, remained the deposit leader with $2.3 billion in deposits within Greenville County, down $471 million from a year earlier.

Wells-Fargo/Wachovia gained ground in Greenville, going from 13.8 percent of the market to 15.3 percent while Carolina First’s market share fell from 26.6 percent to 22.3 percent.

Carolina First, whose holding company lost $1.7 billion since January 2008, has been losing market share in its home county since 2008 when it reached a high of 28.2 percent.

BB&T held onto third and Bank of America was fourth in Greenville. The biggest jump in positioning was by The Bank of Travelers Rest which went from 7th to 5th.  Southern First Bank, which operates as Greenville First, dropped from 5th to 6th.

The most dramatic change in Spartanburg County was the fall of First National Bank of the South, which struggled with heavy losses over the past two years and was put into FDIC receivership and sold to a private equity firm in July. It continues to operate as First National Bank of the South.

In the months leading up to the June 30 FDIC report, First National went from No. 2 in market share in Spartanburg County with $489 million in deposits, or 11.55 market share, to No. 6 with $330 million, or 6.8 percent.

The biggest winner appears to be Bank of America, which has seven offices in the market.  It increased its historical No. 1 market share position in Spartanburg from 18.3 percent to 27.1 percent.

Sun Trust jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 and Wells-Fargo/Wachovia remained third, although its market share dropped from 11.1 to 9.4 percent.