New reasons have emerged for this large number of institutions and for the demarcation between large institutions--with well-integrated regional, national, or global operations--and the smaller locally oriented institutions that I call community banks.
In this new setting, community banks differentiate themselves by focusing on the specific needs of their local markets and by providing a high level of service and attention to the customers in those markets. Community banks, that is, banks with assets of $ billion or less, continue to be quite successful.