The biggest bank merger since the financial crisis — February’s $28 billion tie-up between BB&T Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. — was supposed to spark a wave of copycats. Industry CEOs must have missed the memo.

“M&A is not on our minds at this point,” KeyCorp Chief Executive Officer Beth Mooney said last week in a phone interview. Steve Steinour, head of Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares Inc., said Thursday that his team is “not inclined to be proactive on bank transactions.” And U.S. Bancorp threw cold water on the idea last week.

It made sense on paper. KeyCorp and Huntington, both based in Ohio, were among the candidates that analysts said could benefit from a deal that would cut overlapping branches and free up funds for the technology arms race that bigger companies can finance more easily.

And the big banks have been attracting customer deposits more efficiently. The top lenders have a 45% share of deposits with just 19% of branches, while regionals have 14% of deposits and 16% of storefronts, McKinsey & Co. said in a report this week.

But instead of the predicted bank combinations, lenders have pursued smaller non-bank acquisitions, from fintech firms to trading operations. And if executive commentary on recent earnings calls is any indication, finding a bank to buy or merge with isn’t a priority.

“I think most of us just want to continue to improve at our own shops,” Regions Financial Corp. Chief Financial Officer David Turner said in an interview. “Mergers are very difficult to do.”

The apparent disinterest doesn’t preclude deals from getting done, according to Mike Mayo, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co. Regional banks are behind their bigger competitors when it comes to efficiency, deposit growth and digital banking, Mayo said in an interview.

“It’s really just a matter of time,” he said. “You downplay it until you do it.”

Published Apr 25, 2019, 10:29:12 AM, by Hannah Levitt (Bloomberg)