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Chattanooga banks grew by double-digit levels for second consecutive year during pandemic

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Major Chattanooga banks are seen in the skyline of downtown Chattanooga, including the biggest banks in the market — First Horizon, SunTrust (now Truist Bank), Regions, Pinnacle and Bank of America.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Major Chattanooga banks are seen in the skyline of downtown Chattanooga, including the biggest banks in the market — First Horizon, SunTrust (now Truist Bank), Regions, Pinnacle and Bank of America. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Major Chattanooga banks are seen in the skyline of downtown Chattanooga, including the biggest banks in the market — First Horizon, SunTrust (now Truist Bank), Regions, Pinnacle and Bank of America.

By Dave Flessner 6 min read

Deposits in Chattanooga’s banks grew by double-digit levels for a second consecutive year during the pandemic as government stimulus measures and greater savings boosted how much Chattanoogans put in savings, checking and CDs at local banks.

Despite the economic downturn and drop in interest rates caused by the pandemic last year, total deposits in the 27 commercial banks operating in the 6-county Chattanooga metropolitan area grew by nearly $1.7 billion in the 12 months ended June 30, according to new figures released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). The 13.7% gain in local bank deposits from 2020 to 2021 followed an even bigger 19.6% gain in total banks deposits in the Chattanooga market during the previous year.

Combined the deposit gains in the past two years at Chattanooga banks represent the fastest growth since the FDIC began tracking such figures.

“We’re seeing the influx of the government’s stimulus measures pumping more money into both business and individual accounts,” said Colin Barrett, president of the Tennessee Bankers Association. “The American Rescue Plan is continuing to trickle down to many of our municipalities and I think we’ll get another traunch coming next year. So I think that we’re going to continue to see an increase in total deposits next year and I don’t think this will slow down.”

For all of Tennessee, bank deposits grew in the past year by 10.3% to $213.1 billion after an even bigger 20.4% jump in deposits in the previous year, according to the FDIC.