NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Forget acquisition. For the nation's top three banks, organic is the way to go.

Consolidation has long been the buzzword within the banking industry and with interest rates on the rise and over 7,000 commercial banks competing for market share within the U.S., it's easy to see why some banks are feeling the itch to merge.

But Citigroup (Charts), JPMorgan Chase (Charts) and Bank of America (Charts) - which all reported second quarter earnings last week - see little reason to jump on the acquisition band wagon. Top executives for the companies outlined plans to increase their focus on organic growth strategies; that is, garnering new business through the opening of retail branches and online accounts.

"After many years of not adding branches, retail banking is back en vogue," said Anthony Polini, analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co.

It may be en vogue but it does come with risks.

Polini said deposit growth is under pressure and rising interest rates are putting a damper on consumer and commercial lending. Those concerns have pushed regional banks, which have less diversification across their business lines, to consider mergers and acquisitions.

In fact year-to-date, there have already been 148 M&A deals in the U.S. within the banking industry, according to M&A tracking firm Dealogic. That's up almost 14 percent over the comparable period last year.

But analysts said Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are in a unique position within the industry because they don't need to acquire any banks in order to show growth.

"The regional banks generate the bulk of their profits from capturing deposits or investing in real estate loans... core businesses that are weakening," said Dick Bove, analyst at Punk, Ziegel & Co. "They've got to merge because they don't have any other real growth opportunities."

By comparison, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Bank of America have strong capital markets operations, he said. And while trading and investment banking are cyclical businesses that can be impacted by a downturn in the market, Bove said growth in the world economies should continue to accelerate.

That will provide the banks with the chance to grow fee-based income through increasing international M&A activity and create more trading opportunities, particularly among derivative trading.

"The big banks have almost unlimited growth opportunities ahead of them," he said.

That's not to say that the big three banks aren't committed to growing profitability at their retail banking units.

Citi, for instance, plans to open a total of 1,000 new branches by the end of the year, the company's chief executive Chuck Prince said during its second quarter earnings call. And the company boasted $4.8 billion in new deposits just three months after it launched its online branch, CitigroupDirect.

True, investors have been less than kind to Citigroup, bemoaning the company's slow growth rate since Prince took over the office from predecessor Sanford Weill - a man known for his aggressive growth-at-all-cost management style. The stock is down about 3 percent since the beginning of the year.

But analysts are standing by Prince's slow and steady approach to growth, saying investors are being too harsh on Citigroup.

"For some investors, its never good enough," said David Hendler, analyst at CreditSights. ""If they went and did another deal, they'd be accused of overpaying."

Bank of America already has 10 percent of all U.S. deposits - the maximum allowed by regulators and the main reason the bank is unlikely to make any acquisition in the near future. But it is continuing to grow organically. In the second quarter, the company added 701,000 new checking accounts through its retail branch network.

Bank of America acquired credit card company MBNA last year and said it has already started offering MBNA's affinity credit cards at 4,200 branches by the end of the second quarter. By the end of the July, those cards will be available at 5,200 branches.

And while JPMorgan's retail bank had a rough second quarter, with net income down about 11 percent from last year due to weakness in its mortgage operations, the company had some bright spots. JPMorgan opened 121 branches since last year and credit-card sales made through its branches surged 119 percent year-over-year.

CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement that JPMorgan continues to focus heavily on improving its Tri-State New York retail operations - a hot market for deposits - by investing in more ATMs, refurbished branches, and upgraded systems.

Punk & Ziegel's Bove said the three banks are poised for solid growth over the next five years due to their diverse income streams and their organic growth strategy.

Both Citigroup and JPMorgan should show earnings growth of 10 to 12 percent - largely due to their trading operations - while Bank of America, with its strong retail banking presence in the U.S. should grow 8 to 10 percent, he added.

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