A staggering 37 American banks have folded up in 2010, or an average of 12 entities going bust every month.

The US has seen 15 bank failures, out of which seven collapsed on March 19 alone.

Despite signs of economic recovery, high unemployment levels are resulting in increased defaults, in turn severely hitting the small and medium banks.

The seven entities that collapsed are State Bank of Aurora, First Lowndes Bank, Bank of Hiawassee, Appalachian Community Bank, Advanta Bank Corp, Century Security Bank and American National Bank.

Going by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the failure of seven banks would cost the agency as much as USD 1.28 billion. The FDIC insures deposits at more than 8,000 banks and also acts as a caretaker of failed entities.

Indicating the severity of the financial crisis, a whopping 191 banks have been closed down by the authorities since the fall of Wall Street major Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Last month, seven banks failed while the tally stood at 15 in January. The US economy grew at over 5 per cent in the December quarter but unemployment rate continues to be more than 9 per cent.