How safe is your bank, Missoula?

There’s a number of ways to check on the safety and financial soundness of your bank. If you’ve got a little bit of finance knowledge, then the FDIC is the place to go (they’re the folks that guarantee your bank deposits up to $100,000 per account). For credit unions, its the NCUA who do the same thing:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

National Credit Union Administration

But, perhaps a simple rating system (with abundant research behind the ratings) is more useful, and for that Bankrate.com’s Safe & Sound® service is a good option. The fewer the stars, the greater the risk that the bank will fail.

(Remember that many banks are owned by larger corporations, which may be headquartered in another state. You’ll need to look under that state.)

Here’s some examples, mainly from Missoula, Montana. (There are simplified explanations of the terms down below.)

	Bankrate.com			Leverage	Equity/	Net Income		Net Worth to
	Safe & Sound	Assets	Equity	Ratio	Assets		ROE	Total Assets
		(’000s)	(’000s)
Airway Boulevard Bank	*****	204.3	16	12.77	7.83%	$2,061,000	26.13	7.83
Banco Popular	*****	87.9	44.2	1.99	50.28%	$2,305,000	10.71
Bank of Montana	NA	9.5	3.7	2.57	38.95%	-$154,000	-8.24	38.93
Community Bank	***	85.9	8.2	10.48	9.55%	$466,000	11.12	9.63
Farmers State Bank	***	296.5	30.5	9.72	10.29%	$927,000	6.12	10.31
First Citizens Bank	**	32.7	3.5	9.34	10.70%	-$34,000	-1.94	10.77
First Interstate Bank	****	5284	416	12.70	7.87%	$35,706,000	16.98	7.88
First National Bank of Montana	****	283.9	24.7	11.49	8.70%	$1,226,000	9.93	8.73
First Security Bank	****	847	111.8	7.58	13.20%	$7,090,000	12.79	13.2
Gateway Community Federal CU	****	39.4	4.4	8.95	11.17%	$149,810		11.06
Missoula Federal Credit Union	****	275.7	29.6	9.31	10.74%	$1,355,300		10.82
Mountain West Bank	***	694.2	62	11.20	8.93%	$3,180,000	10.52	8.94
Sterling Savings Bank	**	12215.7	1374.3	8.89	11.25%	$18,111,000	2.61	11.25
Treasure State Bank	****	77.5	9.5	8.16	12.26%	$60,000	1.28	12.21
US Bank	****	242,307.90	21,541.80	11.25	8.89%	$2,157,468,000	20.3	8.89
Wells Fargo Bank	****	503,327.00	43,942.00	11.45	8.73%	$2,951,000,000	13.58	8.73
Little Horn State Bank	*	68.4	6.3	10.86	9.21%	-$158,000	-4.65	9.27

Now, the following explanations are simplified but these are some of the common ways of judging the financial soundness of a bank or credit union.

Capitalization stands as protection against loss for bank customers and credit union members. There are various capitalization ratios, but one of the simplest is Equity to Assets (where Equity is loss reserves, accumulated earnings from the past, and recent net income; and Assets are loans, cash, investments, as well as land and buildings.) It shows whether or not there is sufficient capitalization to cover outstanding loan balances.

The reverse is Leverage Ratio, Total Liabilities / Net Worth (or simply Assets/Equity). Generally, the higher this ratio, the more risky the institution’s situation.

Net Income is simply how much money is being made. The institution either records a profit or a loss. Losses eat into equity, which lowers capitalization and raises leverage, creating more risk.

ROE, or Return on Equity, measures how much money is being made with the assets. It is a measure of financial efficiency, and shows how well a bank or credit union uses investment dollars to generate earnings growth. Overall, the US banking industry had a 3.58% ROE in Q2 2008

Net worth to total assets – this also represents how well capitalized a bank or credit union is. The higher, the better. The Treasury recommends at least 6 percent net worth to total assets in order to be in good standing.

« Who you gonna call? Reactions to the VP Debate »

• Calendar

September 2008

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Aug				Oct »
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Blogroll

• 4&20 Blackbirds
• Big Sky Cairn
• Electric City Weblog
• Intelligent Discontent
• Missoula Red Tape
• Missoulapolis
• Montana netroots
• New West Missoula
• Piece of Mind
• Problembear