By Tim Sheehan | Fresno Bee

As big banks and brokerages get battered by the economy, some consumers in the central San Joaquin Valley are moving their money to community banks and credit unions.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data show smaller institutions gaining deposits while some of the region's largest banks have contracted -- by tens of millions of dollars over the past two years in some cases.

Even with Merced-based County Bank announcing a third-quarter loss of $54.6 million this week, experts aren't looking for a reversal for other local banks.

Leaders of some Valley banks and credit unions say much-publicized failures of IndyMac Bank and Washington Mutual Bank sparked jitters, driving cash into smaller institutions. They say the trend isn't huge, but they aren't complaining.

"When some of our largest institutions were having problems, customers were getting a little confused and trying to figure out where to put their money," said Dan Doyle, president and chief executive of Fresno-based Central Valley Community Bank. "We literally had people lining up to open accounts" as Washington Mutual collapsed.

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