Ingram's July 2026

A MARKET IN TRANSITION Across the five-year window, the KC MSA banking market underwent the same pattern visible nationally— fewer banks, bigger survivors, deposit growth outrunning loan growth, a thinner capital cushion, and a sharp jump in uninsured deposit exposure— but with one local twist: the Missouri side of the state line grew nearly twice as fast as the Kansas side. Percent Change Dec. ‘19 to Dec. ‘24 No. of FDIC-insured banks −13 (−21.3%) Total assets +41.4% Total deposits +46.1% Net loans and leases +35.5% Total equity capital +11.2% Domestic offices −21.5% FTE employees −11.9% Median bank assets +65.2% TOP 5 KC MSA BANKS BY ASSETS Percent Growth Dec. ‘19 to Dec. ‘24 UMB Bank. +90.3% Commerce Bank +22.5% CrossFirst Bank (now Busey) +55.5% Security Bank of Kansas City +18.7% Academy Bank +39.6% KC MSA GROWTH, MISSOURI VS. KANSAS SIDE Bank count 2019 → 2024 MO: $67.65 B → $98.07 B (+45.0%) KS: $14.39 B → $17.92 B (+24.5%) Total deposits MO: $54.99 B → $81.93 B (+49.0%) KS: $11.47 B → $15.18 B (+32.3%) Domestic offices MO: 39 → 30 (−23%) KS: 22 → 18 (−18%) Total assets 2019 → 2024

For many borrowers, those develop ments represent clear advantages. Yet scale also changes the character of bank ing relationships. One of the traditional strengths of community and regional banking has always been proximity. Business owners often knew not only their commercial lender but also the executives respon sible for making credit decisions. Local knowledge could influence underwriting in ways that balance-sheet metrics alone never could. A lender who understood the customer, the industry and the local economy might recognize opportunities that standardized models overlooked. As institutions grow larger, decision making often becomes more structured. Credit policies become more uniform. Specialized underwriting teams evaluate transactions across multiple markets. Risk management becomes increasingly cen tralized. None of that necessarily results in fewer loans, but it frequently means more documentation, greater consistency and a narrower tolerance for exceptions. That evolution presents a different bor rowing experience than many privately held companies encountered a decade ago. The changes become particularly noticeable in the middle market, where companies have outgrown traditional small business lending but may not yet command the attention reserved for the largest corpo rate clients. Those businesses increasingly seek more than financing alone. Treasury management, payroll services, fraud pro tection, employee benefit administration, owner wealth management and succession planning have become part of a broader commercial relationship. Banks, in turn, increasingly evaluate customers through that same broader lens. Rather than viewing lending as a single transaction, many institutions now pursue comprehensive relationships that encompass multiple financial ser vices. The economics are understandable. The cost of underwriting a commercial loan has risen, regardless of loan size. Institutions naturally seek relationships that generate sufficient revenue to justify those costs while deepening long-term customer connections. That dynamic may prove especially significant for privately held companies

throughout the Kansas City region, where family ownership remains common and succession planning is becoming an increasingly important business issue. The most valuable banking relationship may no longer be defined solely by access to credit, but by the ability to provide strategic financial guidance across genera tions of ownership. Ironically, these same forces may strengthen—not weaken—the competitive position of many community banks. Unable to match the scale of larger institutions, smaller banks increasingly compete through specialization. Some have developed deep expertise in agri culture. Others concentrate on physician practices, manufacturers, commercial real estate, family-owned businesses or employee stock-ownership plans. Rather than attempting to be all things to all customers, they differentiate themselves by understanding industries in greater depth than larger competitors can rea sonably achieve across every market seg ment. That specialization reflects another shift in the banking landscape. Relat ionship banking has not disappeared. It has become more focused. Technology has also redefined what customers expect from their financial institutions. Branch networks, once a pri mary measure of market presence, matter differently today than they did only a gen eration ago. Routine transactions increas ingly occur through mobile platforms, treasury portals and electronic payment systems. Businesses that once visited local branches daily may now rarely enter a banking office except to discuss financing, acquisitions or strategic planning. The value of a branch has therefore shifted from transactional convenience to advisory engagement. Customers are no longer seeking a place to deposit checks as much as they are seeking expertise that cannot be replicated through software. That evolution may explain why branch counts and staffing levels have declined even as assets and deposits continue to grow. Banks are investing not simply in physical infrastructure but in technology, specialized talent and advisory capabili ties that reflect changing customer expec tations.

MO: 585 → 460 (−21.4%) KS: 155 → 121 (−21.9%) FTE employees MO: 11,163 → 9,798 (−12.2%) KS: 2,314 → 2,076 (−10.3%)

Source data: FDIC Call Reports as of Dec. 31, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2024, supplied in the attached files. The KC MSA cohort is the set of institutions with CBSA = “KANSAS CITY, MO-KS” in either year. Dollar values are aggre gated across institutions. Ratios shown as “weighted” are asset-weighted (or equity-weighted, for ROE) across the cohort to prevent small-bank outliers from distorting the metro picture. “Survivors” are defined as institutions appearing in both year-end snapshots by FDIC CERT number; “gone” institutions are CERT numbers pres ent in 2019 but not 2024. The single “new” institution (Kendall Bank, Overland Park) is a charter that appears in 2024 but not in 2019 — typically a rebrand or reloca tion rather than a de novo charter.

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I ngr am ’ s

July 2026

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