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Deorganic,
This answer depends on where you are in the country. I noticed you answered a question about eating in NYC so I chose NY institutions. While I cannot narrow down to any one individual bank because it then depends on your neighborhood, if you do branch banking, personal, business, need access to ATMs, etc. I did provide you with a link to close to two hundred NY banks and their credit ratings in starts. Many peak out at 5 stars so you can pick from there.
If you want to know how to check out a specific bank's credit rating once you have narrowed it down then take a look at my second link. That will walk you through the process. It should look like this:
Step1
Open your web browser and go to the Bankrate Safe & Sound Ratings website. Bankrate looks at a variety of statistics for each financial institution including the bank’s asset quality, profitability and liquidity.
Step2
Select whether the financial institution that you are researching is a credit union or a bank/thrift. Click the “Next” button to continue. Enter the search options to locate your financial institution. You can search by the bank’s name, state, zip code, asset size or rating. This is useful if you do not have a specific bank in mind as well as if you want to check the status of your current bank. Click “Next” after selecting your search option.
Step3
Choose your bank from the list of financial institutions provided in the drop-down menu and click on “Next.” View the Bankrate.com Star Rating and the Safe & Sound CAEL Rating. Star ratings start at one star which is the lowest rating and go up to five stars which is a superior rating. The CAEL ratings are the opposite with a CAEL rating of one being the highest possible and a five being the lowest possible.
Step4
Choose to review any reports of financial summaries that Bankrate has from your financial institution. Now that you have looked at how Bankrate scores your bank, you should look at another rating system. It is a good idea to use two different models to ensure that there isn’t a large discrepancy between the two.
Step5
Open the Bauer Financial Banks and Credit Unions rating page. You will need to choose whether you are looking for information on a bank or credit union.
Step6
Select the state that were the financial institution is located as well as the name of the financial institution. Click on “Search” for your results. Find your bank on the results page and click on the “Tell Me More” button.
Step7
Review the Star Rating that Bauer Financial has assigned to your bank. Bauer Financial recommends all four and five-star banks to their readers. If you are interested in purchasing a more in-depth report on your bank’s credit rating, you can do so from this screen.
Step8
Compare the ratings from Bankrate and Bauer Financial. If they are similar (they don’t need to be identical) then you can be reasonably assured that the bank’s credit rating is indeed a positive one.
There is a lot of fluctuation going around and I can see why you are hesitant and looking into this. Here is a little something to think about from just a couple years ago.
— February 14, 2007
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. today became the only U.S. bank to have the highest possible credit rating from both S&P and Moody's - with Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgrading Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. to "AAA," its highest possible credit rating.
And here we are today: March 5, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., the three largest U.S. banks by market value, may face credit-rating downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service amid signs they’ll set aside additional cash for loan losses.
So I appreciate your concern about how solid banks are but I would have to say while it is a bit up in the air things are not as bad as they seem if you go with a bank that has a solid track record and good current financials. Unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to stash away you won't be in any danger.
This answer depends on where you are in the country. I noticed you answered a question about eating in NYC so I chose NY institutions. While I cannot narrow down to any one individual bank because it then depends on your neighborhood, if you do branch banking, personal, business, need access to ATMs, etc. I did provide you with a link to close to two hundred NY banks and their credit ratings in starts. Many peak out at 5 stars so you can pick from there.
If you want to know how to check out a specific bank's credit rating once you have narrowed it down then take a look at my second link. That will walk you through the process. It should look like this:
Step1
Open your web browser and go to the Bankrate Safe & Sound Ratings website. Bankrate looks at a variety of statistics for each financial institution including the bank’s asset quality, profitability and liquidity.
Step2
Select whether the financial institution that you are researching is a credit union or a bank/thrift. Click the “Next” button to continue. Enter the search options to locate your financial institution. You can search by the bank’s name, state, zip code, asset size or rating. This is useful if you do not have a specific bank in mind as well as if you want to check the status of your current bank. Click “Next” after selecting your search option.
Step3
Choose your bank from the list of financial institutions provided in the drop-down menu and click on “Next.” View the Bankrate.com Star Rating and the Safe & Sound CAEL Rating. Star ratings start at one star which is the lowest rating and go up to five stars which is a superior rating. The CAEL ratings are the opposite with a CAEL rating of one being the highest possible and a five being the lowest possible.
Step4
Choose to review any reports of financial summaries that Bankrate has from your financial institution. Now that you have looked at how Bankrate scores your bank, you should look at another rating system. It is a good idea to use two different models to ensure that there isn’t a large discrepancy between the two.
Step5
Open the Bauer Financial Banks and Credit Unions rating page. You will need to choose whether you are looking for information on a bank or credit union.
Step6
Select the state that were the financial institution is located as well as the name of the financial institution. Click on “Search” for your results. Find your bank on the results page and click on the “Tell Me More” button.
Step7
Review the Star Rating that Bauer Financial has assigned to your bank. Bauer Financial recommends all four and five-star banks to their readers. If you are interested in purchasing a more in-depth report on your bank’s credit rating, you can do so from this screen.
Step8
Compare the ratings from Bankrate and Bauer Financial. If they are similar (they don’t need to be identical) then you can be reasonably assured that the bank’s credit rating is indeed a positive one.
There is a lot of fluctuation going around and I can see why you are hesitant and looking into this. Here is a little something to think about from just a couple years ago.
— February 14, 2007
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. today became the only U.S. bank to have the highest possible credit rating from both S&P and Moody's - with Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgrading Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. to "AAA," its highest possible credit rating.
And here we are today: March 5, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., the three largest U.S. banks by market value, may face credit-rating downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service amid signs they’ll set aside additional cash for loan losses.
So I appreciate your concern about how solid banks are but I would have to say while it is a bit up in the air things are not as bad as they seem if you go with a bank that has a solid track record and good current financials. Unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to stash away you won't be in any danger.
source(s):
http://www.bauerfinancial.com/btc_ratings.asp
http://www.ehow.com/how_4474851_check-banks-credit-rating.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5D91031F934A15751C0A964...
http://www.bauerfinancial.com/btc_ratings.asp
http://www.ehow.com/how_4474851_check-banks-credit-rating.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5D91031F934A15751C0A964...
Any bank account that is FDIC insured is insured up to $250,000 by the US government. As long as your account is FDIC insured and has a balance under $250,000 , you should be fine.
"FDIC deposit insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government"
"FDIC deposit insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government"
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