Lending Pulse: Loans Aren‘t the Problem, Funding Them Is

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Lending Pulse: Loans Aren‘t the Problem, Funding Them Is

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US Banks

Lending Pulse: Loans Aren't the Problem,

Funding Them Is

Industry Overview

2Q updates highlight sustainability, broadening lending 26 July 2026

2Q26 management updates delivered near-unanimous agreement that the lending cycle Equity

is sustainable and broadening. From money-centers to regionals, management pointed United States

to broad-based commercial demand rather than a single hot pocket: PNC's Demchak Banks

called business momentum "really strong," M&T posted its best loan growth since 2012 Ebrahim H. Poonawala

with CRE turning positive for the first time since 2021, and Regions tied its C&I Research Analyst

strength to power, utilities and manufacturing. The connective tissue is the capex BofAS+1 646 743 0490

cycle—Goldman's Solomon put it most directly, framing AI as a force expanding capital ebrahim.poonawala@bofa.com

needs "beyond core technology to infrastructure, energy, and data centers." That ripple is Brandon Berman

Research Analyst

now visible on regional balance sheets, corroborating the acceleration in H.8 data. BofAS

Although there is more than AI capex momentum driving this, as repeatedly flagged by +1 646 855 3933

brandon.berman@bofa.com

regional bank CEOs, with Demchak noting in response to our question during the

Gabriel Angelini

earnings call, "It's too broad-based to lay it all on AI." See Appendix A: 20+ CEOs/CFOs Research Analyst

in their own words on where loan demand is really coming from—and what it's BofAS+1 646 855 3081

costing to fund. gabriel.angelini@bofa.com

Michael Campos

Research AnalystDebate squarely on how to fund loan growth BofAS

The debate has shifted almost entirely from whether loans grow to what deposits cost +1 646 855 3912

to fund them.