United States
Banking sector profile — Americas
Data as of October 2026 • TGB Intelligence Unit
Policy rate as of 7 October 2026: 3.75–4.00% (source: Federal Reserve)
Banking sector at a glance
Structure and performance
The US banking system comprised 4,238 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions with combined assets of US$26.5tn at end-June 2026, down from 4,421 institutions a year earlier as mergers continued to thin the community-bank tier. Scale is highly concentrated: the 18 institutions with assets above US$250bn held US$16.9tn, or 64% of industry assets, although community banks still account for 90% of institutions. Bank assets equal about 86% of GDP, a comparatively low ratio that reflects the large role of capital markets and non-bank lenders in US credit intermediation.
Deposits of US$20.7tn fund about 78% of industry assets, and domestic deposits rose for an eighth consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2026, driven by uninsured balances. Total loans reached US$13.9tn, up 6.8% year on year. Growth has been led by lending to non-depository financial institutions, up 22.4% in the year to June 2026, and by loans to purchase or carry securities, up 29.7%, deepening links between banks, private credit and broker-dealer activity. Commercial and industrial loans rose 6.3% and credit card balances 4.2%, while construction and development lending contracted 3.4%.
Earnings are strong. Industry net income was US$90.1bn in the second quarter of 2026, a return on assets of 1.37%, with a net interest margin of 3.32%. Asset quality improved: past-due and non-accrual loans fell to 1.44% and the quarterly net charge-off rate to 0.57%, although credit card delinquencies remain elevated at 2.81%. Unrealised losses on securities were still US$326.7bn, or 5.5% of amortised cost. The tier 1 risk-based capital ratio eased to 13.75% and the leverage ratio to 8.98%, and 47 banks were on the FDIC's problem bank list.
The policy backdrop has turned. The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds target range by 25bp to 3.75–4.00% on 16 September 2026, saying inflation remained elevated, after holding at 3.50–3.75% since December 2025. Higher short rates support asset yields but raise funding costs and slow the recovery in securities valuations. Key risks include commercial real estate, consumer credit, growing exposure to non-bank financial institutions and the cumulative effect of the 2025–26 recalibration of capital and supervisory rules on large-bank resilience.
Structural trends
The shifts shaping banking in United States.
Consolidation continues: FDIC-insured institutions fell to 4,238 in June 2026 from 4,421 a year earlier, with 36 mergers in the second quarter of 2026 alone.
Loans to non-depository financial institutions grew 22.4% in the year to June 2026, leading annual loan growth with loans to purchase or carry securities, tightening bank links to private credit and fund finance.
Capital recalibration: the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio changes effective April 2026 and the March 2026 Basel III proposals are expected to modestly reduce large-bank capital requirements.
Stablecoin integration: following the GENIUS Act of July 2025, the Fed proposed reserve, capital and application rules for bank-affiliated payment stablecoin issuers in September 2026.
Leading institutions
Largest banks in United States by total assets.
| # | Bank | Total assets (US$) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JPMorgan Chase | US$4.42tn | Universal |
| 2 | Bank of America | US$3.41tn | Universal |
| 3 | Citigroup | US$2.66tn | Universal |
| 4 | Wells Fargo | US$2.15tn | Universal |
| 5 | Goldman Sachs | US$1.81tn | Investment |
| 6 | Morgan Stanley | US$1.42tn | Investment |
| 7 | U.S. Bancorp | US$692.3bn | Regional |
| 8 | Capital One | US$669.0bn | Commercial |
Largest banks in United States by total assets, FY2025 audited accounts. Domestic groups as in the TGB Bank Rankings; subsidiaries of foreign groups shown with their own accounts and marked. Not a ranking table. Converted at official central-bank rates for each fiscal year-end.
Supervision and capital rules
Supervision is shared among the Federal Reserve (bank holding companies and state member banks), the OCC (national banks) and the FDIC (state non-member banks and deposit insurance), alongside state regulators. The FDIC insures deposits up to US$250,000 per depositor per ownership category; the Deposit Insurance Fund reserve ratio was 1.48% in June 2026. The final Basel III components are not yet in force: in March 2026 the agencies proposed a revised framework with a single risk-based calculation for the largest banks and a modest aggregate capital reduction. A recalibrated enhanced supplementary leverage ratio took effect on 1 April 2026, the community bank leverage ratio fell to 8% from 1 July 2026, and stress-test-based capital requirements are frozen until 2027.
What changed in 2026
- In January 2026 the Federal Reserve approved Fifth Third Bancorp's acquisition of Dallas-based Comerica.
- In March 2026 the Fed, FDIC and OCC proposed three capital rules to complete Basel III implementation, streamline large-bank calculations and modestly reduce aggregate capital requirements.
- In June 2026 the Fed's stress test showed all 32 participating banks remaining above minimum CET1 requirements despite US$708bn of hypothetical losses.
- In September 2026 the FOMC raised the federal funds target range by 25bp to 3.75–4.00%, and the Fed proposed GENIUS Act rules for Board-supervised stablecoin issuers.
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