North Dakota is the only state so far that has established a publicly owned bank. Founded in 1919, the Bank of North Dakota has a mission to “promote agriculture, commerce, and industry” and “be helpful to and assist in the development of… financial institutions… within the State.” BND functions primarily as a “banker’s bank” by providing loan participation and other support to local banks. Thanks in large part to BND, community banks are much more robust in North Dakota than in other states. North Dakota has 35 percent more banks per capita than South Dakota, and four times as many as the national average. While locally owned small and mid-sized banks account for only 30 percent of deposits nationally, in North Dakota they have 72 percent of the market. Continue reading