Summary of Deposits (SOD) lists every branch and the deposits booked at that branch for FDIC insured institutions. See 12 CFR 304.3(c). Each institution reports on 30 June of each year.
SOD is widely used in economic research. Eg Bouwman and Malmendier Am Econ Rev 105 (2015) pp 321–25. It is also used in the preliminary screens for bank merger competitive reviews. Department of Justice Bank merger competitive review (2005).
The FDIC merges SOD with RIS (Research Information System), which contains information from call reports. Many of these variables are not especially important. This section covers only the most important variables.
The following variables identify the branch.
YEAR
is the reporting yearCERT
identifies the institution on its FDIC certificate numberBRNUM
is a serial count of the branch in that year; this is valid only
within the same CERT
-YEAR
UNINUMBR
is a supposedly consistent identifier assigned to a branch location
which does not change even if the branch is soldNAMEFULL
is the bank's name of the branchADRESSBR
is the branch addressCITYBR
is the branch citySTALPBR
is the branch stateZIPBR
is the branch ZIP codeThe following variables describe the branch.
DEPSUMBR
is the deposits the bank reports at that branch; do not confuse
this with DEPDOM
, which is the bank's total deposits!STCNTYBR
is the FIPS code in which the branch is locatedBRSERTYP
is the branch service type; the 2023 instructions
show the following service levels on pp 34–35 with a fuller explanation:BRSERTYP |
Service | Short description | Included? |
---|---|---|---|
11 | Full service | Brick and mortar office | Deposits |
12 | Full service | Retail office | Deposits |
13 | Full service | Home banking | Deposits |
22 | Limited service | Military facility | |
23 | Limited service | Drive‐through/facility office | |
29 | Limited service | Mobile/seasonal office | |
21 | Limited service | Administrative office | |
30 | Limited service | Trust office | |
24 | Limited service | Loan production office | No |
25 | Limited service | Consumer Credit office | No |
26 | Limited service | Contractual office | No |
27 | Limited service | Messenger office | No |
28 | Limited service | Retail office (ATM?) | No |
BKMO
identifies if the branch is the bank's main officeThe FDIC has already geocoded many of these branches and provide two
variables: SIMS_LATITUDE
and SIMS_LONGITUDE
. The quality of that
geocode is not always entirely acceptable. Especially in earlier data,
coordinates are approximate: assigned to the centre of counties, states, or
sometimes to 0, 0
, Null Island,
in the Atlantic off the African coast. There are also variables identifying
the CSA
(Combined Statistical Area) and MSA
(Metropolitan Statistical Area)
of the branch.
There is no known interlink between branches in SOD and branches in the Federal Reserve's National Information Center.
DEPSUMBR
There is no guarantee that DEPSUMBR
is at all accurate. This implied in the
SOD instructions (2023 instructions, p 3): "Institutions should assign deposits
to each office in a manner consistent with their existing internal
record‐keeping practices". Banks need not book a customer's deposits at a branch
at all proximate to the customer's location provided it is consistent with their
own records.
Nor is it clear how certain classes of customers ought to be treated. Many
corporate and brokered deposits are booked at the main office or at virtual
branches (branches with no or little real world analogue) which are used mainly
to separate those corporate or brokered deposits from the main deposit
franchise. In 1995, for example, around 75 per cent of banks booked a majority
of deposits at their main office (BKMO
).
Along with the expansion of online banking – noted at
89 FR 6607 – which
removes the need for branches in deposit collection entirely, DEPSUMBR
accuracy may be in further decline.
Kevin Wong
The views expressed (if there is any such expression at all) herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of the Treasury, or the United States.