Ah, what to do with $10 trillion?

Sounds like a great problem to have, but, at least on some level, it is not. US banks can’t just sit on those $10 trillion of assets they have accumulated through 3Q11, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. They’ve got to do something with them, and that will be a recurring theme throughout 2012.

In the year that ended Sept. 30, 2011, banks added $1 trillion of deposits to their coffers, an increase of approximately 10%. We all know what happens when deposits languish.

My sense is that between “Debbie downer” regulators, increased capital reserves, and the residual sting from the credit crisis, bankers remain blase about flexing their deposits’ muscles. That can’t last, and I’m surmising that 2012 will be the year when bankers come out of this shell — at least a bit.

There is already some evidence that this is happening. 

Outstanding loans to commercial and industrial businesses by large banks grew 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter through December 28, according to Federal Reserve data. That is more than a 20 percent annualized rate and an acceleration from the 3.1 percent and 3.4 percent increases in the two previous quarters.

The implications of greater overall lending activity are pervasive. A hightened commitment to monetizing deposits has ramifications from marketing and brand to collections and staffing. Innovation will also play into it, and hopefully for the better. If done successfully, $10 trillion won’t seem like a lot of money after all.

This is the first in a series of posts on what to expect in 2012. Feedback (even the critical kind) welcome.