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"People keep opening branches. I can't believe they are just splitting the pot." Peter C. Hildreth, N.H. banking commissioner

Banks sit on every corner that doesn't have a Dunkin' Donuts, or so it seems in Maine and New Hampshire.

And yet there continues to be new branch offices from local and national banks, even as they face fierce market competition from one another and from financial institutions such as credit unions, investment firms, and finance services.

The state banking performance, a summary produced by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., shows a changing landscape. It charts growth in the number of branches. Maine and New Hampshire each picked up a net of about a dozen branch offices in the last year.

FDIC institutions total 36 in Maine, where an estimated 13,197 employees handle $56.5 billion in assets. There are 26 FDIC institutions in New Hampshire, with 3,646 employees handling $19.2 billion in assets.

There were 179 new charters in 2005, the most for a year since 1995, according to the American Bankers Association. Statistics show the number of institutions has dropped, while mergers have spawned an increase in branches from 69,923 to 92,514 over the past decade.

There are about three dozen banks operating in New Hampshire, from community banks to national giants.

Hampshire First Bank, a commercial bank based Nashua, is the first new bank chartered in New Hampshire in years. The state's banking trends, which include Massachusetts banks opening branches in New Hampshire, indicate a growing market, said Peter C. Hildreth, New Hampshire banking commissioner.

"People keep opening branches. I can't believe they are just splitting the pot," said Hildreth.

Gerald H. Little, president of the New Hampshire Bankers Association, said the charter for Hampshire First was a positive development. Bigger banks realize they need bricks and mortar to compete, with branch offices giving them a high-profile presence in a community, he said.

It is part of an expansion of financial services. "Financial services are a hyper competitive market these days," Little said. "Banks realize they are not the only game in town."

Smaller and newer institutions are also part of the mix. Centrix Bank, which was incorporated in 1998, plans to open a new branch in Concord in April and a full-service branch in Dover late this year, expanding what is now just a loan office.

Joseph B. Reilly, president and CEO of Centrix Bank, said competition should be good for the consumer.

"There's a rush to technology," said Reilly, referring to online banking and other bells and whistles to spur convenience.

There are 59 state chartered financial institutions in New Hampshire, with 21 being credit unions, according to the state banking division's annual report. They have more than 217 branch locations.

Banking history shows a constantly changing market, where even relatively new banks have come and gone, or have been swallowed up by a larger institution. The FDIC's state profiles has a list of 279 inactive and active institutions in New Hampshire, with the majority being inactive banks with names long forgotten.