Nearly 60 percent of banks plan acquisitions next year

More banks are planning some type of acquisition in the next year, with executives at 57 percent telling Bank Director magazine they would pull out their wallets in 2013. That's up from 52 percent last year.

Of those, nearly half say they want to buy a healthy bank, 21 percent just want branches and 17 percent want to buy a failed bank through an FDIC transaction.

Of course, only 2 percent say they plan to sell. Almost 90 percent say they have no intention of selling.

Count on Charlotte to play a role in that. We've had examples of all three of those types of acquisitions here in the area in the past year.

BNC Bancorp said in June it would by Charlotte commercial bank First Trust. Carolina Premier Bank bought two new branches in South Carolina in January. CertusBank and Bank of North Carolina each bought a failed bank. And banks like Park Sterling Bank, which bought Citizens South earlier this year, are still looking to grow.

Bank of America, however, is definitely not looking to expand, CEO Brian Moynihan told investors two weeks ago.