Oct. 19--The Charleston region's top bank, based on deposits, held on to its No. 1 spot but lost some market share, the latest government figures show.

And the largest bank based in the three-county area moved up a spot to the No. 2 ranking.

Those are some of the nuggets contained in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s annual summary of deposits, which is based on financial data as of June 30 of each year. The results for 2009 were released Thursday.

The FDIC study found that the local bank deposit lode grew by 5 percent since mid-2008, with $9.6 billion socked away in the vaults at 209 offices. The industry added six branches over the year.

Wachovia, which was acquired by West Coast-based Wells Fargo & Co. after a near-cataclysmic collapse in its stock last year, stayed on top of the heap despite its well-publicized financial troubles. Its 26 area offices accounted for $2.16 billion in deposits, giving it a 22.56 percent market share. But that's off from 2008, when the lender had $2.27 billion in deposits and a near 25 percent cut of the pie.

Perhaps the main beneficiary of the slide at Wachovia was a longtime local financial institution, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston, which displaced Bank of America to claim the No. 2 spot.

The subsidiary of Charleston-based First Financial Holdings Inc. picked up 1.6 points in market share at its 28 local branches since mid-2008, according to the FDIC. Deposits increased over that time by more than $215 million to $1.43 billion for a nearly 15 percent claim of the market.

Like Wachovia, crosstown Charlotte-based rival Bank of America saw its Charleston market-share slip (edging down to 13.27 percent from 13.4 percent) though it made modest gains in deposits (1.27 billion from $1.22 billion). The only others in the Top 10 to advance or decline were Mount Pleasant-based Tidelands Bank and North Carolina's BB&T.

They switched places, with Tidelands rising to the sixth spot with a nearly 5 percent share and $472 million in local deposits.

BB&T fell to No. 7, with a slight decline in market-share (to 4.71 percent from 4.88 percent) and a nominal $5.7 million uptick in deposits, for a total of $449 million.

Reach John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.

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