Gainers, losers among region’s banks

Guaranty Bank and Trust Co.’s 2016 merger with The Home State Bank enabled it to leapfrog several competitors last year based on deposit market share in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado.

That’s according to data released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as of June 30, 2017.

Denver-based Guaranty recorded deposits of $724.67 million in Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties as of June 30, 2016. That ranked ninth regionally, with a market share of 3.38 percent. But the addition of eighth-ranked The Home State Bank saw it surge in market share the following year, with $1.53 billion in deposits and a No. 5 ranking at 6.69 percent.

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That growth carried it past Great Western Bank, Bank of Colorado and even U.S. Bank, which saw its deposit market share slip slightly, from 4.81 percent to 4.73 percent in 2017.

“That was one of the compelling reasons to acquire Home State,” said Paul Taylor, president and CEO of Guaranty Bancorp, parent of Guaranty Bank, “that we could double our size up there. We’re very bullish on the Northern Colorado market.”

Taylor said the strength of Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Boulder and the region overall makes it an exciting market.

“Honestly, my opinion is that that region is growing at a better pace and has an even better growth future than even Denver now,” Taylor said.

Guaranty went from 12 locations in the four counties in 2016 to 18 in 2017; some locations were consolidated with those of Home State, which had 11 locations prior to the sale.

Taylor said doubling in market share with one acquisition made the deal particularly attractive, with the bank able to offer far more to customers because of its size. More capital enables more and larger loans, as well as better technology and other services, he said.

Higher capital  “increases our legal lending limit, so we’re better able to serve the market,” he said.

Guaranty’s 2017 deposits in the region — at $1.53 billion — exceeds the combined Guaranty/Home State total of $1.48 billion.

“The retention of Home State customers has gone absolutely great,” Taylor said.

Guaranty wasn’t the only bank to grow in market share. Bank of Colorado, a Fort Collins-based affiliate of Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. of Central City, Neb., grew its deposit market share from $827.2 million, or 3.86 percent, to $979.87 million, or 4.28 percent.

Shawn Osthoff, Bank of Colorado president, said the bank’s primary growth has been in Weld and Larimer counties.

“I wish I could explain it,” he said, noting that the bank has had a well-defined marketing message.

“I don’t know that there’s any magic recipe,” he said. “We’ve been working at this for a long time. We’ve been such a small share of the market in Larimer County, for example. This year is just an exceptional year for us from a deposit market share standpoint.”

Osthoff noted that the bank recently opened a new location in west Greeley and intends to open a location in downtown Fort Collins. A new Brighton location will help serve the Fort Lupton market.

“We’re not on a branch-building spree by any stretch,” he said. “We’re trying to be strategic in our locations and serve our customers better.”

Wells Fargo remains the dominant player in the Boulder Valley/Northern Colorado market, with $4.5 billion in deposits and 19.71 percent market share. But deposits were essentially flat from the year prior, and the bank’s market share fell from 21 percent.

Wells Fargo has been hurt nationally by a series of scandals, including a 2016 disaster involving fake accounts, but its troubles preceded that news. 2017 marked the fourth consecutive year Wells Fargo has declined in the Boulder Valley/Northern Colorado market, where its market share had reached 22.83 percent in 2013.

Other banks have been able to capitalize on Wells Fargo’s decline. JPMorgan Chase Bank saw its deposits climb by $400 million from 2016 to 2017, from $3 billion to $3.4 billion, jumping in market share from 14.07 percent to 14.94 percent.

“Wells Fargo did have some really bad press, and they lost customers,” Taylor said. “We gained customers because of Wells Fargo’s bad press.”

Overall, 14 of 45 banking institutions lost market share — most only slightly — while 24 banks gained market share in the four counties. Five institutions’ market shares were essentially unchanged, and two institutions were new to the market.

Even as some banks — such as Bank of Colorado — continue to add branches, the overall number of branches declined from 307 in 2016 to 299 in 2017, according to the FDIC.

Total deposits in the four counties increased to $22.87 billion, up from $21.4 billion in 2016.