1895
1890
1885
1880
1875
1870
1865
1860
1855
1850
1845
1840
1835
1830
1825
5,000
1820
0
Banks Created
Banks Failed
10,000
1815
00
15,000
1810
00
20,000
1805
00
Compiled by Robert E. Wright
1800
00
Historical US Bank Failure Rates
25,000
1795
00
30,000
1790
00
Between 1790 and 2010, an average of a little more than one out of every 100 US banks were bankrupted each year. This chart shows, however, that most
years were not average. In many years, a trivial number of banks failed but in other, thankfully rare years, the nation lost on the order of 10% of its banks.
Most failed banks were small, but in 2008 an unprecedented number of very large banks had to be closed or folded into other, more viable institutions.
of the largest 50 banks in the country,”
says Jonathan Kemper. “We are still very
high on that list. Both my brother and I
are heavily invested in the bank, and we
identify as much with our shareholders as
we do with our management.”
In some cases family succession can
lead to ossification, but it has done just the
opposite for Commerce. “We are proud of
our history at the bank, but we stress that
it is a history of innovation and opportunity,” says Jonathan Kemper. “Dr. Woods
T.C. Frost draft from 1885.
16 Financial History | Spring/Summer 2011 | www.MoAF.org
was an innovator, very entrepreneurial
moving out from Kansas City to the hinterlands. Another big innovation came on
Dad’s watch. He recognized the growth of
retail banking. We already served many
of the granger banks through our clearing