50 largest US banks by total assets, Q4 2024

The US banking industry reported a sequential asset decline of 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the majority of big banks shrinking their balance sheets.

The 50 largest US banks together reported a $436.75 billion decrease in aggregate assets during the quarter, with 28 institutions posting asset contraction. By comparison, the 50 largest US banks in the third quarter of 2024 reported asset growth of $377.22 billion from the prior quarter.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the 50 largest US banks had a combined $23.580 trillion in assets, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Big 4 banks combined assets decline

Aggregate assets at the four largest US banks fell sequentially by $339.74 billion, or 2.9%, in the fourth quarter, compared to asset growth of 1.2% in the previous quarter.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest US bank at $4.003 trillion in total assets as of Dec. 31, shed $207.23 billion of its assets in the fourth quarter, logging the second-highest sequential decrease at 4.9%.

The bank unveiled its plans to reduce workforce in 2025 and is looking to deploy its large capital stockpile, possibly increasing share buybacks.

Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. also reported asset decline of 1.9% and 3.2% from the previous quarter, respectively.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Co.'s assets grew by $7.72 billion, or 0.4% quarter over quarter.

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Top gainers and losers

Of the 39 banks with assets between $50 billion and $500 billion, 20 reported asset growth during the fourth quarter.

Old National Bancorp posted the highest sequential growth at 30.6% after its assets were adjusted higher by $16.46 billion to reflect its pending acquisition of Bremer Financial Corp. The $1.40 billion purchase was the fourth-largest announced US bank M&A deal since the beginning of 2024.

State Street Corp. posted the second-highest growth as its assets increased 4.4%.

Flagstar Financial Inc. logged the largest sequential decrease for the second straight quarter, at 12.4%. The bank announced efforts to revert to profitability after suffering heavy losses from its commercial real estate exposure. D.A. Davidson analyst Peter Winter recently upgraded the bank to "buy" from "neutral," professing optimism that management has addressed the company's credit issues.

SouthState Corp., which completed its acquisition of McKinney, Texas-based Independent Bank Group Inc. on Jan. 1, posted a sequential decline of 1.1% in total assets. UMB Financial Corp., which closed its acquisition of Denver-based Heartland Financial USA Inc. on Jan. 31, recorded asset growth of 2.9% sequentially. The $2.02 billion and $1.99 billion bank buys involving SouthState and UMB Financial were the two largest US bank M&A deals announced since 2024.

To conduct this analysis, S&P Global Market Intelligence examined the largest US banks and thrifts by assets with a deposits-to-assets ratio of at least 25% or at least $30 billion in deposits as of quarter-end.

To compile a pro forma ranking, S&P Global Market Intelligence calculates pro forma assets after accounting for pending M&A transactions as well as transactions that closed after quarter-end. To be included in pro forma adjustments, the deal value must be over $1 billion or involve assets or deposits in excess of $5 billion. Loan portfolio deals are not included because of a general lack of data on both deal consideration and the impact on total assets.

To view an Excel spreadsheet containing the top 50 US banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of 2024, click here.

Growth outlook

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence's fourth-quarter 2024 US Bank Outlook Survey, US bankers anticipate an upswing in deposit and loan growth over the next year, reflecting a positive outlook on net interest income and fading worries about credit costs.

US bankers have also outlined a positive M&A outlook for 2025, with an increased proportion of respondents — 41.6% versus 33.3% in the third-quarter survey — indicating that their institution was either "somewhat" or "very" likely to pursue acquiring another company over the next 12 months.