The effects of bank consolidation on available credit for small rural businesses and farmers is a major concern. It is often argued that larger organizations, which usually have an urban base, neglect the credit needs of their rural constituents. The effect of mergers on the banking and financial services industry was recently investigated by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Janet Yellen, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, testified that "mergers resulting in relatively high levels of local banking market concentration can adversely affect local bank customers." Similar concerns were also raised by the Texas House Committee on Small Business Access to Capital: "Experience with interstate banking tells us that out-of-state banks tend to decrease their lending service to small businesses-which are the backbone of job creation." The effect of consolidation on rural financial markets is not a new issue. A set of studies by the Federal Reserve System in the early 1970s examined the effects of bank structure on the