NCRC Releases Report on Decreases in Financial Services

March 30, 2017

On Thursday, March 30, 2017, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) released a report that found a decrease in access to financial services, after the financial crisis caused more than 6,000 bank branches to close.  That's created 86 new "banking deserts" in rural areas, according to the NCRC.

The study finds that:

  • 6,008 of 95,018 branches were lost between 2008 and 2016. This represents over 6% of branches nationally. Of the losses, 4,941 (82%) were in urban zip codes and 1,067 (18%) were in rural areas.
  • Several metro areas lost 15%-25% of their branches. Losses were especially acute in Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Detroit.
  • 86 new banking deserts were created in rural areas during the period. These are service gaps in which there were no banks within 10 miles of populated areas. Because of their already diminished market access, rural areas are especially vulnerable to banking deserts.
  • Banking deserts disproportionately impacted minorities, with 25% of all rural closures in majority-minority census tracts. The Hispanic population of rural banking deserts is 100% higher than in non-desert tracts; the Native American population is 55% higher.

Additionally, the NCRC asserts that the loss of branch banking access impedes small business lending, hampering capital availability to the primary engine of U.S. economic growth.