The first bank in Tennessee was the Bank of Nashville, chartered in 1807. Four years later, the Bank of the State of Tennessee was chartered at Knoxville; branches were established at Nashville, Jonesboro, Clarksville, and Columbia. In 1817, nearly a dozen more banks were chartered in various frontier towns. The Civil War curtailed banking operations, but the industry began again immediately after cessation of hostilities.
In 2002, Tennessee had 212 insured banks with total assets of over $112 billion. One hundred sixty-three of these institutions were state-chartered.
Tennessee ranked 4th nationwide in per capita bankruptcy filings as of September 2002. Past-due loan levels remained high in the consumer and agricultural loan categories while there was an improvement in the commercial loan categories. There was an improvement in net interest margins (NIMs) (the difference between the lower rates offered to savers and the higher rates charged on loans) for insured banks as the spread between short- and long-term interest rates was fairly wide.