Banking Conditions Survey

November 2020

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

Downloadable chart

November 2020

Respondents were given an opportunity to comment on any issues that may be affecting their business.

These comments are from respondents’ completed surveys and have been edited for publication.

• There are macroeconomic and political risks.
• Commercial and industrial line-of-credit usage is down, well below long-term historical averages. This has been offset by continued borrowing in the commercial real estate portfolio as construction loans fund to complete projects.
• We feel the government stimulus has created excess liquidity and thereby an extended lag in loan production because companies can use their own sources—private or nonbank sources—to fund the initial loan-demand needs independent from the traditional financial system.
• We are starting to see margin compression as loans renew at lower rates and securities start to mature. Our bank is in a very liquid position with difficulty deploying funds to keep margins up. The loan portfolio has seen some softness in recent weeks, which we suspect is due to the uncertainty of the elections. Businesses seem to be waiting to make major business decisions until there is more clarity on a COVID-19 vaccine timeline or until the elections are decided.
• The recovery remains K-shaped, which describes the divergent fortunes of industries, companies and groups of Americans resulting from the pandemic.
• Getting the PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans off our books and forgiven has become much more of a burden than originally thought. The Main Street lending program is disappointing; I probably would have more success trying to build an Atlas rocket to land on Mars. The concept of the Main Street program is great, but the launch is a disaster. After the experience with PPP loans, I'm not sure just how much we will trust any more government programs.
• It’s incredibly difficult working through 2021 forecasting due to uncertainty regarding the outlook on health, political and economic fronts. Lending/payment trends improved during the third quarter, with rates of improvement slowing heading into the fourth quarter. We are cautiously optimistic regarding the second quarter of 2021 and beyond at this time.
• The Federal Reserve has reduced interest rates to the point that loans are not economically feasible.
• The government transition after the election [is an issue of concern].
• There is significant uncertainty around the following: the political landscape, a second wave of COVID outbreaks, a second wave of an economic turndown, federal spending.
• My banking outlook and general business outlook are dependent upon the election results and how the government handles the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• The potential for losses due to COVID is ongoing.

Historical Data

Historical data can be downloaded dating back to March 2017. For the definitions, see data definitions.

• Indexes
• All data

NOTE: The following series were discontinued in May 2020: volume of core deposits, cost of funds, non-interest income and net interest margin.