US banks turn to podcasts for marketing as listenership reaches 158 million

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

The ABA Banking Journal profiles how community and regional banks use podcasting as a marketing and relationship tool. It draws on practitioners at South State Bank, Sunrise Banks and the former Keystone Bank, covering why they launched, how they measure results and what separates shows that gain traction from those that stall. A short, practical read for marketing and communications leads.

• RSS.com data cited in the piece puts US monthly podcast listeners at more than 158 million, about half of Americans aged 12 and over.
• Grandview Research forecasts the US podcasting market will grow by about 19 percent between 2025 and 2030.
• South State Bank's The Community Bank Podcast now averages about 3,500 downloads per month, up from roughly 500 at its 2020 launch.
• Practitioners stress defining a target audience and keeping production lean, with Sunrise Banks describing a setup of "a Yeti mic and then some graphic designer's time."
• There are approximately 4.5 million podcasts registered worldwide, making intentional promotion necessary to capture attention.

Executive summary

The ABA Banking Journal article "Banking on podcasts," by Karen Kroll and published 20 October 2026, examines why financial institutions are launching podcasts and how they judge whether the effort is working. It opens with market data: RSS.com reports that…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.