Problems with predatory lenders such as payday operators are significant in most Oklahoma communities as well, bankers said. A majority of bankers reported payday lender problems with as much as 2.5 percent of their customers. Again, a heavier impact was reported by rural bankers, with 63.7 percent reporting payday lender problems, compared to 48.3 percent of urban bankers.
Other negative economic factors about which bankers were asked include past due loans and overvalued real estate. According to survey results, most believe the former will stay the same. Just over 40 percent of bankers said they were “somewhat concerned” about the latter, with another 34 percent only “slightly concerned.”
Some of the poll’s other findings include:
A majority of bankers foresee little change in long-term interest rates over the next six months. Almost half said the same about short-term interest rates.
More bankers are seeing more demand in DDA accounts than CDs or other savings products.
Just over half of bankers believe real estate prices will remain constant in 2007.
Most of the state’s bankers believe commercial loan demand will slightly exceed residential loan demand over the next six months, with a stronger increase in the former predicted by urban bankers.
The survey also asked bankers to identify the entities from which they felt the most competition for customers. Other banks in the community led credit unions and other financial institutions as the strongest competitors to Oklahoma banks. Credit unions were listed as the top or second most significant competition by just under half of all bankers surveyed. Unlike banks, credit unions have a competitive advantage as they do not pay federal income taxes and are not subject to community reinvestment consequences.
While the majority of bankers believe both their local economy and that of the state will stay about the same, those who predicted growth believe more will take place close to home. Both the state and local economies were rated ‘good’ by most bankers, and bankers were more than twice as likely to rate their local economy as ‘excellent’ compared to the state’s.
