arbiter
JournalsAccount

Bank geographic deregulation, new credit accounts, and consumer credit

Chintal A. Desai

Journal of Financial Research2026https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70044article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The bank deregulation literature documents positive effects of intrastate branching—allowing expansion of bank‐branch network within a state—on real economic outcomes such as income growth, income insurance, income inequality, and homeownership. The suggested mechanism is the availability of secured bank loans to small businesses and to underserved populations such as self‐employed minorities (women and persons of color). This article demonstrates the effect of the Riegle‐Neal IBBEA of 1994 (interstate branching) on unsecured consumer credit. Based on the county‐level credit bureau data, the analysis shows that credit amounts and the number of new bank cards increased primarily in counties with highly concentrated bank deposits. The effect is stronger in counties that are rural or experience high income growth. These findings help solidify the earlier demonstrated effects of intrastate branching.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70044

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{chintal2026,
  title        = {{Bank geographic deregulation, new credit accounts, and consumer credit}},
  author       = {Chintal A. Desai},
  journal      = {Journal of Financial Research},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.70044},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Bank geographic deregulation, new credit accounts, and consumer credit

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.