Basel III and the Deposit Franchise: What the Data Actually Shows

US bank deposits and loans have both grown steadily over the past eighteen months, but not at the same pace. Total deposits rose from $17,815bn in January 2025 to $19,435bn in July 2026 -- up roughly 9% over the window. Total loans and leases rose from $12,628bn to $13,854bn over the same period -- a similar magnitude of growth, but running consistently faster on a month-by-month basis. The result is a loan-to-deposit ratio that climbed fairly steadily from about 70.7% in early 2025 to a peak of 72.2% in March 2026, before easing back to roughly 71.8% over the most recent three months. That full trajectory -- a real, sustained rise followed by a modest recent pullback, not a single clean number -- is what this piece actually tracks, rather than a simplified before-and-after comparison that would understate both the peak and the recent reversal.