The state's first bank was the branch of the Bank of the US established at Savannah in 1802. Eight years later, the Georgia legislature chartered the Bank of Augusta and the Planters' Bank of Savannah, with the state holding one-sixth of the stock of each bank. The state also subscribed two-thirds of the stock of the Bank of the State of Georgia, which opened branches throughout the region. To furnish small, long-term agricultural loans, the state in 1828 established the Central Bank of Georgia, but this institution collapsed in 1856 because the state kept dipping into its reserves. After the Civil War, the lack of capital and the high cost of credit forced farmers to borrow from merchants under the lien system. By 1900 there were 200 banks in Georgia; with an improvement in cotton prices, their number increased to nearly 800 by World War I. During the agricultural depression of the 1920s, about half these banks failed, and the number has remained relatively stable since 1940. Georgia banking practices came under national scrutiny in 1979, when Bert Lance, President Carter's former budget director and the former president of the National Bank of Georgia, was indicted on 33 counts of bank fraud. The federal government dropped its case after Lance was acquitted on nine of the charges, and most of the rest were dismissed.
By September 2002, there were 307 insured banks in Georgia with total assets of over $43.8 billion. At the end of 2002, there were 77 state-chartered credit unions. There is one state-chartered trust company, Reliance Trust Company. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance regulates banks, credit unions, and trust companies chartered by the state.
At the end of 2002, Georgia's economy was weaker than that of the rest of the nation, with employment down 2.2% from the previous year, the worst performance in the country. Nonetheless, banks with headquarters in Georgia performed well that year, in part due to higher net interest margins (NIMs) (the difference between the lower rates offered to savers and the higher rates charged on loans). Community bank loan portfolios grew by 17%, particularly in the area of commercial real estate (CRE) loans.