The Dawn of an ‘Age of Deposits’ in the United States

U.S. Bank deposits by individuals grew from 4% of GDP at the time of the National Banking Acts in 1863-64 to 23% by the time of the Federal Reserve's founding. A comprehensive collection of bank- level data shows that most gains occurred immediately after the Acts, Specie Resumption in 1879, and the Election of 1896, and occurred across banks of all ages and types. Checking accounts, clearinghouses, rising incomes, and urbanization contributed to the increasing preference for deposits, but greater confidence in banks also seems to have been central, with highly capitalized banks from earlier entry cohorts seeing the largest gains