Order Reprints Text size Even banks that aren’t part of the merger bonanza can expect to see positive effects from a wave of consolidation. Dreamstime After a relatively dormant 2020, Wall Street expects a surge of bank mergers this year. The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic dampened much of the expected merger activity for 2020—even as it served to intensify the rationale for why banks should combine. Last year, amid the worry over low interest rates and potentially ballooning loan losses, banks were busy navigating through their own issues and less interested in acquiring banks that could potentially bring their own set of problems. But with many of the worst-case scenarios for the economy thankfully avoided, banks are coming out of the crisis feeling a renewed pressure to become more efficient.