Oct. 17--The bank with the stagecoach logo holds the biggest share of Nevada deposits, bypassing previous Nevada leader Bank of America, the latest numbers from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show.

Kirk Clausen, Wells Fargo Bank's regional president for Nevada, admitted that banking has become so complex that FDIC statistics on deposit totals sometimes are skewed, although he said his bank has seen its deposit total jump recently.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo have been trading the lead in total deposits for several years.

"I wouldn't brag about (being first), because it could change again," Clausen said. "Bank of America is a great competitor."

Clausen said he is friends with top regional executives for Bank of America and US Bank, another large regional bank.

"We don't get together and talk about who is the bigger bank, because there is no way to prove who is the bigger bank," he said.

Wells Fargo Bank's total Nevada deposits grew by 18 percent to $9.6 billion as of June 30, the latest date for deposit totals from the FDIC.

For the calendar year to date, Clausen estimates deposits are up about 17 percent, a figure that excludes deposits in wealth management accounts and casino accounts. Nor does it include Wachovia Bank deposits, which Clausen said total about $1.3 billion and are reported separately even though Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in December 2008.

By contrast, federal statistics show that Bank of America's total Nevada deposits dropped by $411 million, or 4 percent, to $9.1 billion.

Bank of America spokeswoman Britney Sheehan said the numbers don't reflect the bank's retail market position in Nevada.

"The drop was due to reclassification of certain corporate deposits," she said.

After scrubbing the data, Bank of America said retail deposits increased 2 percent, she said, declining to provide a total dollar amount.

Clausen said he believes Bank of America's own number, but another who spoke anonymously said customers earlier this year were pulling deposits from Bank of America.

The competitor attributed the withdrawals to fears about the giant bank's financial soundness and to continual national news about BofA getting federal bailout funds and paying bonuses to Merrill Lynch executives after acquiring the stock brokerage.

In some cases, the deposit totals raise more questions than they answer. Beal Bank Nevada boosted its deposits to $2.4 billion from $466 million last year. Why?

A spokesman for the privately held bank did not return a call for comment Friday afternoon.