The banking, credit card, brokerage, and insurance industries are merging into one big industry. The researchers looked at how well this industry did from 1993 to 1996. They found that the industry grew a lot, mostly because assets like stocks and houses went up in value. Many households have banking and insurance products. The industry made a lot of money, even though profits grew slower than the industry itself. Overall, the industry's profits are higher than those of the communications and electronics industries.