Southard Financial
Excess Liquidity

2 Big Reasons Banks Will Be Holding Excess Cash in 2022

People are holding onto their money, businesses are in a holding pattern, and banks are seeing a drop in lending activity.

Those are the basic conclusions of a recent 2022 Banking Industry Outlook report released by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Their study analyzes current trends in banking behavior and uses those patterns to try and forecast what we can expect as we move into the new year.

Bank Balance Sheets Heavy With Excess Liquidity

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020, the U.S. government pumped an extremely large amount of cash into the market. This created a difficult situation for many banks.

First, many people who would have ordinarily taken out loans to fund some of their activities last year did not need to borrow the money. They may have been working from home, and, therefore, had lower expenses related to work, commuting, etc. They may have also seen extra cash flow into their bank accounts due to stimulus money from the federal government. As a result, individual bank customers didn’t borrow as much money as in years past.

As soon as the nation shut down because of COVID, people started holding onto their money. Banking analysts aren’t expecting that trend to change anytime soon.

This is evident in the data that shows increased savings rates during 2020. According to S&P Global, the monthly savings rate last year equaled or exceeded 9% nearly every month since March. (By comparison, the savings rate only passed 9% four times between 2000 and 2020!)

Second, these funds are not generating much interest income because banks weren’t making as many loans. This resulted in excess liquidity that banks aren’t typically used to having.

excess liquidity trend
Chart created by S&P Global Market Intelligence — Banking Industry Outlook, Oct. 2021

What Excess Liquidity Means for Most Banks

Banks are in the business of loaning money, and they generate most of their income from interest payments. Having large amounts of excess cash on hand is the equivalent of a retail store having lots of inventory on the shelves and no customers coming in the door.

S&P Global predicts that banks will continue to realize “little to no earnings growth over the next few years.” Smaller banks that have not found ways to pivot to new technologies during the pandemic will especially feel the pinch.

New Competition Means Banks Need to Adapt

Moving forward, banks will not be able to do “business as usual” and expect to thrive. New “fintech” (financial technology) companies have sprung up over the past few years that are challenging the traditional ways that customers interact with their money.

People are getting more and more comfortable using their smartphones and other technology to conduct banking transactions digitally. Being locked down for much of 2020 and unable to conduct many transactions in person has only accelerated that trend.

Look for fintech companies to take a larger and larger market share of banking, investing, and lending in the future. Many of these companies are startups, but larger financial institutions are finding ways to provide these services to their customers as well. Smaller banks would do well to adjust their practices in order to keep from losing customers to remote ways of banking.

Southard Financial Can Help You Make the Shift

We have been helping clients monitor and understand changing financial markets for over 30 years, and we understand how important it is to stay on top of trends like these.

Our team can provide a variety of Services for Financial Institutions including appraisals, consulting, and transaction advice.

Schedule a call to learn more and discover how we can help you stay on top of an ever-changing marketplace!

Recent Activities

  • Southard Financial was proud to be a Bonze Sponsor of The ESOP Association Annual Conference in 2021, 2022, and 2023

  • Southard Financial was proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association in 2020 and 2021

  • Southard Financial was proud to be a Member Bank Sponsor of the Ole Miss Banking & Finance Symposium in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023

  • Southard Financial was proud to be a Co-Sponsor of the National Center for Employee Ownership ESOP Nuts & Bolts Event in 2018

  • Southard Financial was proud to be a Corporate Sponsor of the Mid-South Minority Business Council in 2017 and 2018

  • Dave Harris attended The ESOP Association Annual Conference in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023

  • Dave Harris attended The ESOP Association Professionals’ Forum in 2019, 2020, 2021 (virtual), and 2024

  • Dave Harris attended the National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019

  • Mark Orndorff and Matthew Jakes attended the National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference in 2017

  • Southard Financial attended the National Center for Employee Ownership Annual Conference in 2020 (virtual) and 2021 (virtual)

  • Mark Orndorff attended The ESOP Association Professionals’ Forum in 2023

  • Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Flint Hydraulics to Hydraquip, Inc.

    Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Flint Hydraulics to Hydraquip, Inc.
  • Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Memphis' own Cooper Glass Company

    Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Memphis' own Cooper Glass Company
  • David A. Harris and Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the 2019 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association

    David A. Harris and Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the 2019 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Orlando, Florida on October 16-17. They gave a presentation titled “Can Employees Really Impact Company Value?”

  • Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Memphis' own TOPS Bar-B-Q chain

    Southard Financial facilitated the sale of Memphis' own TOPS Bar-B-Q chain
  • David A. Harris and Matthew L. Jakes spoke at the 2019 Spring Workshop of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association

    David A. Harris and Matthew L. Jakes spoke at the 2019 Spring Workshop of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Atlanta, Georgia in February, 2019 on the topic of “Valuation Appraisal Checklist – 10 Things Your ESOP Appraiser Should be Doing”

  • David A. Harris spoke at The Fall ESOP Forum of the NCEO

    David A. Harris spoke at The Fall ESOP Forum of the NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October, 2018 on the topic, “Communicating Valuation: Tools, Tips, and Examples”.

  • Southard Financial negotiated the sale of and was the exclusive financial advisor to Southern Systems, Inc.

    Southard Financial negotiated the sale of and was the exclusive financial advisor to Southern Systems, Inc.
  • David A. Harris spoke at the 2018 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association

    David A. Harris spoke at the 2018 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Birmingham, Alabama in September, 2018. He led a workshop called “The People’s Roundtable Interactive Workshop – A series of ‘Build to Last’ activities that focus on developing successful communication and team building programs for employee owners of all generations.” Speakers included Dolores Lawrence, Blue Ridge ESOP Associates; Lindsay Baublitz, SCandH Capital; David Harris, Southard Financial LLC

  • Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the ESOP Nuts & Bolts Seminar of the NCEO

    Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the ESOP Nuts and Bolts Seminar of the NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) held in Indianapolis, Indiana in August, 2018 on the topic of “What’s Your Company Worth? – ESOP Valuation.”

  • Southard Financial helps Transnetyx expand with growth capital

    Southard Financial helps Transnetyx expand with growth capital
  • Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute

    Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute 2018 held in Memphis, TN in January, 2018 on the topic of Succession Planning titled “What is Your ‘End Goal’?”

    iBank Tower, Suite 708 - 5050 Poplar Avenue - Memphis, TN 38157

    Phone: (901) 761-7500   Fax: (901) 761-6045