Task force debates how to classify banks; members push for 'net lending' metric to measure local benefit

Task force members raised concerns about using branch-count heuristics to label banks as national, regional or local. Presenters said they had classified banks based on branch-location research, but multiple members argued the classification is less important than measuring whether deposits are deployed as loans in Utah.

One member summarized the group’s preference: "What we're wanna analyze is whether they're lending here. Are they net lenders, or are they net depositors?" The auditor team volunteered to show where loan-to-deposit-by-state metrics are published and to add a high-level indicator showing whether a given bank appears to be a net lender into Utah. Members agreed to provide a list of banks for the auditors to map and to document the methodology used to assign national/regional/local labels.

The group also discussed edge cases: locally branded banks that are wholesale-funded and national banks that make substantial loans in Utah. The task force concluded the most defensible approach is to pair transparent classification rules with a net-lending indicator that measures on-state deployment of loans.