Deposits in Wisconsin banks grew 9.5% this year, an increase a consultant said is the result mostly of nervous investors' fleeing the turbulent stock market and putting their money in a place they consider safe.

The growth in deposits in Wisconsin topped the national increase of 7.6% in 2009.

In all, nearly $125.8 billion was on deposit in banks in Wisconsin when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. conducted its annual survey June 30, up from about $114.8 billion at the same time in 2008.

The 9.5% increase this year compares with a 4.65% rise in deposits in the state from 2007 to 2008, FDIC figures show.

"With all the bad news about the banks, people still felt comfortable -- and I think the numbers show it -- putting their money into the banking system," said David L. Donihue, a banking consultant who analyzed the just-released FDIC data.

Donihue, director of Maximizing Shareholder Value & Co. of Leesburg, Fla., said it helped that the FDIC's standard insurance limits on deposits were raised to $250,000 from $100,000 during the height of the financial crisis and market turmoil. Despite very low interest rates for deposits, people felt more secure about moving their money into banks, he said.

The FDIC report also shows how individual banks fared in attracting a share of this year's bigger deposit pie.

Milwaukee's M&I Bank, which has been dealing with loan losses, lost a bit of its market share of bank deposits in Wisconsin over the last year. Even so, M&I remains the most popular bank in the state for depositors' money by a substantial margin.

The survey found M&I has a deposit market share of 18.79% in 2009, down from 19.03% a year ago.

That means that $18.79 of every $100 on deposit with banks in Wisconsin is with M&I. As overall deposits in the state grew, M&I increased its deposits to $23.6 billion from about $21.9 billion in 2008. But that amounts to a smaller share of overall deposits in Wisconsin.

Still, M&I is first or second in deposit market share in nine of the 12 biggest metro areas in the state.

It is No. 1 in the two biggest markets, Milwaukee and Madison.

At the same time, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank increased its deposit market share in Wisconsin to 12.21% from 11.25%, according to the FDIC.

Associated Bank, based in Green Bay, saw its deposit market share rise to 9.24% from 8.22%.

Associated remains dominant in the Green Bay metro market, with a 49.69% market share. That is up from 37.76% the previous year.

Part of Associated's growth in Green Bay is the result of more than $1 billion in "institutional deposits" -- deposits other than those from consumer or business customers -- that were booked at the bank's headquarters in Green Bay along with its regular local consumer and commercial deposits, said David L. Stein, executive vice president and director of retail banking for Associated.

METRO MARKET SHARE

Wisconsin metro area bank deposit leaders and their market share:

--Appleton: M&I, 18.3%; Thrivent Financial Bank, 9.40%; and Chase, 8.58%.

--Eau Claire: Charter Bank Eau Claire, 18.72%; Northwestern Bank, 11.81%; and M&I, 8.69%.

--Fond du Lac: National Exchange Bank & Trust, 30.01%; M&I, 10.60%; and Fox Valley Savings Bank, 10.49%.

--Green Bay: Associated, 49.69%; M&I, 9.84%; and Nicolet National Bank, 5.36%.

--Janesville: M&I, 24.41%; First National Bank & Trust Co., 14.80%; and Johnson Bank, 11.45%.

--La Crosse: Associated, 16.13%; M&I, 15.41%; and Wells Fargo, 14.10%.

--Madison: M&I, 16.46%; AnchorBank, 13.28%; and Associated, 7.14%.

--Milwaukee: M&I, 28.04%; U.S. Bank, 25.20%; and Chase, 6.11%.

--Oshkosh-Neenah: Associated, 24.64%; West Pointe Bank, 17.66%; and AnchorBank, 11.45%.

--Racine: Johnson Bank, 40.08% M&I, 11.33%; and Bank of Elmwood, 7.60%.

--Sheboygan: Community Bank & Trust, 24.25%; Wells Fargo, 12.06%; and M&I, 9.56%.

--Wausau: M&I, 22.53%; Peoples State Bank, 13.39%; and Associated, 10.44%.