The U.S. government may be tightening its grip on the banking system, but don't expect it to change your branch's hours, tack fees onto your account or overhaul your bank's Web site.

The federal government doesn't want to be running banks' daily operations, financial analysts say. Not only would it rub Americans raised on free-market values the wrong way, but the task would also be too massive and complicated.

That's not to say there won't be big changes made by the government at banks such as Citigroup Inc. - a company that is shrinking drastically. But many of the changes consumers are likely to see will be made by the banks themselves to save money - already, Citigroup, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and others have been hiking credit card rates.

The government's growing influence over certain financial institutions will probably not be noticeable to average customers making deposits, getting mortgages or signing up for cards - unless regulators decide a bank needs to sell branches to another institution.

"We're not going to end up with Citi as a government-owned banking utility. I just don't see it," said Bert Ely, an independent banking industry consultant in Alexandria, Va. "What this company faces are very major strategic issues: What businesses it's going to sell, what its top management will be. None of this is going to come down to the branch level."

Regulators said Monday they are considering boosting government ownership in financial institutions, but stopping short of nationalizing them. The biggest recipient of such a program is apt to be Citigroup, which recently approached regulators about ways the government could bolster the bank, including a stock conversion plan, according to people familiar with the discussions. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

Celent banking analyst Bart Narter said the government wants to avoid being in the banking business, though, and instead is trying to "stabilize Citi, and winnow it down to something manageable."

"In a year," Narter said, "Citi will be an extremely changed entity to the point where its own mother wouldn't recognize it."

Citigroup, having suffered five straight quarterly losses, has already split into two organizational structures, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. Citicorp will focus on traditional banking around the world, while Citi Holdings will manage the company's riskier assets and more complex businesses. These Citi Holdings assets are expected to be sold off to raise capital.