The deposit surge that began in the early days of the pandemic continued this year, according to the FDIC’s annual report on bank deposits, with Massachusetts seeing a 34 percent since before the pandemic.

The FDIC’s annual Summary of Deposits survey captures bank deposits on June 30 each year. Banks with offices in Massachusetts had $402.88 billion in deposits on June 30, an 11.4 percent increase over the same day last year, when banks held about $361 billion. This analysis does not include State Street Bank.

With government aid programs and less spending helping to boost savings during the pandemic, deposits have increased 34.2 percent since June 30, 2019, the last report before the pandemic, when deposits were about $300 billion.

The banks with the most Massachusetts deposits remained unchanged from 2020: Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Santander Bank and TD Bank. These four banks combined held 53.1 percent of the state’s deposits in 2021 and have remained as the top banks since June 30, 2016, according to the FDIC.

Like it did in 2020, Bank of America had 27 percent of the deposit share on June 30, with about $109 billion in deposits. Bank of America saw its deposits increase year-over-year by 10.3 percent.

California-based First Republic Bank saw its Massachusetts deposits increase by 50 percent since June 30, 2020, and the bank now holds the next spot on the list with nearly $15 billion in deposits.

First Republic moved ahead of both Eastern Bank and Rockland Trust, the top two Massachusetts-based banks. Eastern Bank had almost $13.6 billion in deposits, a 19.2 percent increase compared to 2020. Rockland Trust this year had $12.05 billion in deposits, an 11.5 percent increase over last year.

The next three banks on the list have been or soon will be acquired by other institutions. Connecticut-based People’s United Bank, which is in the process of being acquired by M&T Bank, had $9.6 billion in deposits, followed by Century Bank, soon to be acquired by Eastern Bank, with deposits of nearly $6.4 billion. Boston Private, which was acquired by the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank on July 1, finished out the top 10 with $6.2 billion in deposits.

Berkshire Bank was next on the list, followed by Middlesex Savings Bank – the top mutual bank – and East Boston Savings Bank, which is being acquired by Rockland Trust.

The two Massachusetts-based banks with the largest deposit growth were Somerville-based Middlesex Federal Savings, which saw deposits increase to $619.27 million, an 87 percent increase, and Springfield-based de novo New Valley Bank & Trust, which saw deposits increase 73 percent. New Valley now has nearly $216 million in deposits.

Chase Bank continues to expand in Massachusetts, with its deposits doubling year-over-year. Chase had 25 Massachusetts branches on June 30 compared to 20 a year earlier, and deposits are up to $1.3 billion.

While its market share was small, PNC has entered the Greater Boston area, opening five offices in the second half of 2020. The bank had $27 million in deposits on June 30.

Despite the additions of Chase and PNC, Massachusetts had fewer bank offices on June 30: 2,048 in 2021 compared to 2,118 the previous year. Despite having 30 fewer branches compared to a year earlier, Citizens Bank continued to have the most locations in Massachusetts with 209 as of June 30. Of the state-chartered banks, Rockland Trust Company had the most offices with 98.

Bank Deposit Surge Continued in 2021

by Diane McLaughlin time to read: 2 min
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