What are the largest banks in the U.S.?

Here's the most recent list of the Top 10 largest banks in the U.S., as of June 30, 2011, courtesy of the Federal Reserve:

• 1. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPMORGAN CHASE BK NA/JPMORGAN CHASE & CO, COLUMBUS, OH)
• 2. Bank of America (BANK OF AMER NA/BANK OF AMER CORP, CHARLOTTE, NC)
• 3. Citigroup (CITIBANK NA/CITIGROUP, LAS VEGAS, NV)
• 4. Wells Fargo (WELLS FARGO BK NA/WELLS FARGO & CO, SIOUX FALLS, SD)
• 5. U.S. Bank (U S BK NA/U S BC, CINCINNATI, OH)
• 6. PNC Bank (PNC BK NA/PNC FNCL SVC GROUP, WILMINGTON, DE)
• 7. BNY Mellon (BANK OF NY MELLON/BANK OF NY MELLON CORP, NEW YORK, NY)
• 8. HSBC Bank USA (HSBC BK USA NA/HSBC NORTH AMER HOLD, MCLEAN, VA)
• 9. FIA Card Services (FIA CARD SVC NA/BANK OF AMER CORP, WILMINGTON, DE)
• 10. State Street (STATE STREET B&TC/STATE STREET CORP, BOSTON, MA)

I'm note sure why FIA is separated from Bank of America, but I suspect it may be their credit card operations.

 

I am amused that Citigroup is listed as being in Las Vegas. Makes sense. Others may not be as amused as me.

 

And here is the list of the next ten to round out the Top 20 Largest banks in the U.S.:

• 11. TD Bank (T D BK NA/TD US P & C HOLD ULC, WILMINGTON, DE)
• 12. SunTrust Bank (SUNTRUST BK/SUNTRUST BK, ATLANTA, GA)
• 13. BB&T (BRANCH BKG&TC/BB&T CORP, WINSTON-SALEM, NC)
• 14. Capital One (CAPITAL ONE NA/CAPITAL ONE FC, MCLEAN, VA)
• 15. Regions Bank (REGIONS BK/REGIONS FC, BIRMINGHAM, AL)
• 16. Citibank SD (CITIBANK SD NA/CITIGROUP, SIOUX FALLS, SD)
• 17. Chase Bank (CHASE BK USA NA/JPMORGAN CHASE & CO, NEWARK, DE)
• 18. Citizens Bank/RBS Citizens (RBS CITIZENS NA/CITIZENS FNCL GROUP, PROVIDENCE, RI)
• 19. Fifth Third Bank (FIFTH THIRD BK/FIFTH THIRD BC, CINCINNATI, OH)
• 20. Goldman Sachs (GOLDMAN SACHS BK USA/GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP THE, NEW YORK, NY)

I have no idea why Citibank SD is listed separately, but I suspect it may be their credit card operations. Ditto for Chase Bank.

TD Bank is actually a Canadian bank ("T" for Toronto, the "D" is for Dominion.) I have a local checking account with them. TD had bought CommerceBank which was based in New Jersey and with branches in New York where I opened an account.

 

Interesting that only two out of the Top 20 are based in New York and only one of the Top 10. And Wells Fargo is based in South Dakota. Yeah, right. These legal shenanigans are annoying.

 

It's also a real pain trying to get the exact name of a bank. In most cases they publically use a trade name rather than their actual legal name. And with so many subsidiaries and parent and holding companies it is quite a... shell game. Again, lots of legal shenanigans.

 

Most of my money is in two smaller banks, one in Texas, and one in Ohio. I also have a fair amount of money in SmartyPig.com, which is aactually held "on deposit" in Compass Bank or BBVA or BBVA Compass or BBVA Compass Bancshares ("BBVA Compass is a trade name of Compass Bank, a member of the BBVA Group.", according to their web site) which is at #29 on the Federal Reserve list and based in Birmingham, AL. I hope they weren't holding too many of Jefferson County's bankrupt bonds. But, not to worry, as long as you have FDIC protection.

 

-- Jack Krupansky