Why should local banks expand internationally?

The simplest answer would be, because it can.

However, the right answer would be, we are now embedded truly in a global economy and it would enable every local bank to do international business (to start with) and then go international.

Why would they want to do that? You might ask. The answer is the community it serves. The local community has a lot to gain, if the financial institution that they bank with has its reach that is international. Else it relies on more intermediaries, making the process and pricing opaque rather than transparent.

How does a community gain if their internet service provider connects globally to other networks? Tremendously ought to be your answer. Same goes for a local bank. The bank’s shareholders, customers and clients can gain tremendously, should their local bank go international.

It increases reliance to domestic downturns, provides additional revenue streams, they can make more money being conduits for local-to-international or international-to-local transactions.