Lending Industry Financials

The US banking system includes about 8,000 commercial banks, 1,400 savings banks, and 10,000 credit unions, with combined annual revenue of more than $600 billion. Large commercial banks include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Wachovia. Washington Mutual and Navy Federal Credit Union are among the largest savings banks and credit unions, respectively. The industry is concentrated, except in the credit union segment: the 50 largest banks hold more than 60 percent of the market. The credit union segment is highly fragmented: commercial banks account for about 80 percent of industry revenue; savings banks, 14 percent; and credit unions, 6 percent.

About 5,000 companies in the US engage primarily in making personal loans to consumers, with combined annual revenue of about $40 billion, although industry size is uncertain. Large companies include HSBC, American General, and divisions of large financial companies. Certain segments of the industry, such as unsecured cash loans, are highly fragmented, while others, like credit card lending, have become concentrated in a few large lenders.

The US mortgage banking industry includes 6,000 firms with total annual revenue that varies between $50 and $100 billion. Large companies include Washington Mutual; and units of Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America.

Using the 2002 Census Bureau Economic Census, Hoover's has generated an industry financial summary for the Lending industry.