There has been a subtle shifting of market share within the 21 banks that maintain a presence in the Wilmington area of Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.
Comparing the FDIC’s June 30, 2018, market share reports with the just-released reports that reflect market share as of June 30, 2019, it’s evident that the market share of most banks in the tri-county area has decreased but – with two exceptions – the actual amount of their in-market deposits has increased.
Sitting atop the market share list is Live Oak Bank, whose in-market deposit total of more than $3.7 billion far outpaces that of BB&T, the second bank on the list. Live Oak reports a third of local market share, compared with BB&T’s 17.7%.
But that is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Since Live Oak has only one branch – Wilmington – and deposits from all over the country are credited to that Wilmington branch, much of the $3.7 billion comes from outside the tri-county market.
Most of the banks losing local market share between 2018 and 2019 are regional or national banks. They are Wells Fargo, Bank of America, First National Bank of Pennsylvania (FNB), SunTrust, PNC Bank, CresCom Bank, TD Bank and Bank OZK. Two North Carolina-based banks – BB&T and First Citizens – also decreased their share of this market.
Most percentage-point decreases are minor, except in two cases where the banks also saw a decrease in their local deposits. Those two banks are FNB, whose in-market deposits shrank from $417.8 million as of June 30, 2018, to $413 million a year later; and FSNB, whose in-markets decreased from $4.3 million to $4.2 million over the same period. FSNB branches are located in two Walmart stores in New Hanover County.
Interestingly, with one exception, the market share gainers are all North Carolina-based banks: Southern Pines-based First Bank, Raleigh-based North State Bank, Dunn-based Select Bank & Trust, Sound Bank (now Dogwood State Bank, headquartered in Raleigh but previously based in Morehead City), Cornelius-based Aquesta Bank, Greenville-based Union Bank and Woodforest National Bank. Woodforest serves customers in Leland and Southport Walmarts.
Two new entries into the Wilmington market are testament to its strength and attractiveness. The 2019 FDIC report was the first to include Southern Bank and Trust Co., a bank headquartered in Mount Olive. In April 2016 three former Newbridge Bank employees established a loan production office for Southern Bank in Wilmington with the goal of growing the bank’s presence in this market. In October 2018, the local office received the FDIC go-ahead to become a full-service branch.
Roughly eight months later, the Wilmington bank branch debuted on the June 30, 2019, FDIC market share list at 16 (out of 21), with local deposits of nearly $19 million and a local market share of 0.16%.
And currently under construction in a new mixed-use center on Oleander Drive is First Carolina Bank’s first full-service branch. First Carolina opened a loan production office in Mayfaire in September 2017. The branch is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020, according to David Rizzo, First Carolina’s Wilmington market executive.
