For bank and credit union leadership teams
Compare markets before committing to a branch plan.
Compare deposits, customer geography, branch economics, CRA implications, and fair-access risk before choosing a market.
A branch recommendation is only as defensible as its assumptions.
A clean map can hide a weak case. The analysis keeps public market facts, customer evidence, institution-specific economics, and regulatory and fair-access considerations separate long enough to test each one.
Public market data
Branch deposits, market share, household and business growth, competitor presence, and concentration establish the market context.
Customer geography
Existing households, businesses, digital acquisition, service patterns, and access gaps show whether the institution already has a reason to be there.
Institution economics
Target balances, ramp assumptions, staffing, cannibalization, and operating constraints turn market attractiveness into a branch decision.
Regulatory and fair-access lens
CRA, fair banking, and fair lending belong in the market case.
They are not a final check after the growth recommendation is complete. The work identifies where branch geography, assessment areas, community credit needs, products, marketing, service levels, and access require institution compliance and legal review.
CRA context
Review the institution's current assessment areas, public performance evaluation, community credit needs, and the potential effect of a branch opening, relocation, or closing.
Fair lending and access
Examine geographic access, branch services and hours, product availability, marketing coverage, and meaningful disparities that need fair-lending review.
Documented review
Keep growth criteria, exclusions, tradeoffs, and open compliance questions visible so the appropriate legal and compliance owners can challenge the recommendation.
A market ranking with the assumptions attached.
Market and assessment-area definition
A documented view of the counties, ZIP codes, trade areas, time periods, current CRA assessment areas, and other relevant service geographies.
Weighted scorecard
A ranking model with visible weights, thresholds, source fields, sensitivity tests, and CRA and fair-access flags that should affect diligence.
Competitive and access view
Deposit share, branch density, competitor movement, customer proximity, service access, and market whitespace displayed in the same frame.
Executive recommendation
A ranked market case, the assumptions that could change it, and the business, community, compliance, and legal questions requiring further diligence.
Branch and Market Expansion Analysis
The scope follows the number of markets, the branch question, and the customer data available. The finished model stays with the institution and can be reused when the market list changes.
You receive a ranked market recommendation and the analysis behind it.
Bring the market list and the current branch case.
We will identify which facts support the recommendation, which assumptions need testing, and which questions belong with compliance or counsel.
Primary public-data and regulatory sources
- FDIC Summary of Deposits for branch deposits, market share, and branch-office data.
- NCUA Call Report data for federally insured credit-union financial and institutional information.
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey for demographic, household, housing, and economic context.
- FFIEC CRA resources for current interagency CRA guidance and assessment-area considerations.
- CFPB Equal Credit Opportunity Act resources for fair-lending requirements under ECOA and Regulation B.
- FDIC fair-lending examination resources for geographic, branch-service, product, and market-area risk considerations.
- FDIC branch-office resources for establishment, relocation, and closing requirements.
This work supports business decision-making and institution review. It does not replace legal advice, a fair-lending analysis, or a CRA compliance determination.