RankingBanking 26 Digital - Flipbook - Page 7
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25 Top Performing Banks From
RankingBanking
All Other Banks on
RankingBanking
Average cost of deposits: 1.52%
Average cost of deposits: 1.94%
Average noninterest-bearing/total deposits: 27.1%
Average noninterest-bearing/total deposits: 21.7%
Median NIM: 4.11%
Median NIM: 3.57%
Source: Piper Sandler & Co., S&P Global Market Intelligence. Numbers are as of the fourth quarter 2025. NIM means net interest margin.
turn on average tangible common equity, tangible
reprice at higher interest rates. But they do mean
common equity to tangible assets and nonper-
that deposit competition could pick up again,
forming assets to loans and other real estate
weighing on bank NIMs.
owned — to rank the 300 largest publicly traded
“The margin is probably going to hang in there,
banks. This year’s ranking uses 2025 results and
[but] I do think the cost of funds is a challenge,”
was calculated by Piper Sandler & Co. using data
Marinac says. “I don’t think it’s going to go away.”
from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Overall, the study highlighted how strong NIMs
A Short-Lived Recovery?
can propel banks to the top. The overall top 25
Renewed pressure would follow last year’s NIM
banks had median NIMs of 4.11% for 2025, far
recovery. Margins were on the upswing after com-
above the 3.57% median among other banks in
ing under some pressure in 2023 and 2024, when
the ranking, according to an analysis Piper San-
rate hikes and the failure of Silicon Valley Bank
dler conducted.
put stress on the banking industry.
Strong customer relationships were key. Bank
Deposit competition, which was muted when
deposit costs have jumped since the Feder-
interest rates were at 0%, heated up as consumers
al Reserve hiked interest rates aggressively in
and businesses sought to get paid more for their
2022. But those with large pools of loyal “core”
cash. Banks, pressed to avoid any deposit outflows,
depositors fared better, particularly if they did the
were forced to pay up.
nuts-and-bolts work of gathering noninterest-paying checking accounts.
Even if overall industry NIM metrics didn’t
dip too much, some banks saw “very, very, very
“Getting core deposits is the name of the
low NIMs” in 2024, says Kara Baldwin, part-
game,” says Christopher Marinac, director of
ner and financial services audit leader at Crowe.
research at Brean Capital.
Low yields on pandemic-era securities and loans
That deposit buffer may help those banks in
the months ahead. Markets expect the Fed to hike
rates again now that inflation is on the rise, dashing the pre-Iran war hopes of more rate cuts.
Rate hikes aren’t necessarily negative for banks,
collided with rising deposit costs to squeeze some
banks’ profits.
Last year was quite a bit better, as the Fed
pivoted toward rate cuts late in 2024 and eased
deposit cost pressures.
Marinac says, since existing low-yielding loans
“Just about everybody was able to grow that
and securities that are finally maturing will now
out — adjust and adapt,” Baldwin says, adding
