Mike Waters, a partner in the Birmingham office and a member of the Banking & Financial Services Industry Team, was quoted in “Banking Desert Trend Eludes Alabama” published in the Birmingham Business Journal about why Alabama is not seeing a national trend of banking deserts. The article explains an uptick in banking deserts in rural communities across the country as banks focus more heavily on their branch networks in highly populated areas, referencing a recent American Banker article. Mike says that Alabama is not seeing such a trend because there are still several banks in the state and that while Alabama may see some larger banks looking to close branches, community banks will probably look to acquire those branches.