As of 2002 there were 316 insured banks in the state, with assets of $102 billion. Two hundred twenty-nine of those banks were state-chartered. The Office of the Commissioner of Banking licenses and charters banks, loan and collection companies, and currency exchanges. The Office of the Commissioner of Savings and Loan supervises state-chartered savings and loan associations. The Office of the Commissioner of Credit Unions enforces laws relating to credit unions.
The 2001 recession in the United States only moderately affected Wisconsin, and banking performance in the state was strong in 2002. Wisconsin ranks 10th in the nation with regard to the total number of insured banks. Loan delinquencies remained a risk for Wisconsin banks in 2002, especially among agricultural banks. As well, community banks (those with less than $1 billion in assets) saw a shift in loan portfolios to higher-yielding, riskier lending, which required banks to implement effective risk management strategies.