The intensified competition among financial institutions amid the decrease in the number of firms has started to have an effect on the business relationships between financial institutions and firms. The average number of financial institutions that each firm transacts with across branches has been on an uptrend (Chart 11).
As the number of firms within business areas is decreasing, financial institutions' efforts to look for new transaction opportunities and boost their corporate business seem to have led to an increase in the number of financial institutions that each firm transacts with.