The surge in bank lending to businesses is raising worries that lenders are competing so aggressively that some will pay for their largess down the road, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis today. Commercial and industrial loans were up 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter and 16 percent for all of 2012, according to data compiled by research firm SNL Financial of Charlottesville, Va. The push comes at a time when many banks have been flooded with deposits as slow economic growth and low interest rates crimp investment. Domestic deposits since mid-2008 have surged 29 percent to $9.06 trillion, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. Banks of all sizes are fueling the lending trend. Outstanding business loans at Wells Fargo & Co., the country's fourth-largest bank, jumped 12 percent to $187 billion in 2012. The State Bank of Southern Utah, a community lender based in Cedar City, Utah with $715 million in assets, saw a 9 percent jump for the year to $38 million.
