Determine Your 

Bank Rating

There’s been a lot of news recently about the financial strength of banking institutions, including the bank rating.  The mortgage crisis has left a far reaching trail of damage that has affected not only the real estate industry, but the banking industry as well.

So how do you know how safe your bank really is? 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a great source of information on the banking industry for consumers. There’s news about failed banks, as well as articles on what you need to know about your bank accounts and whether they’re fully insured in the unlikely event your bank fails.  While the majority of banks are weathering the storm in fine shape, it never hurts to be educated on the banking industry, and how to protect your assets.

While the FDIC does not release their internal  bank strength rating report, there are private companies that do assemble their own ratings based on their own specific criteria. Reports are often offered online, and many offer paper reports as well as reports on CD-ROM. Many of these services are subscription based. The ratings generally cover banks, bank holding companies, savings & loans and savings banks.

Institutions are generally assigned some sort of “letter” grade or numerical ranking meant to give an indication of the safety or soundness of the institution.

Each company offering bank rating reports uses their own proprietary (used only by that specific company) formula and criteria which is then applied to various banking data. This gives the rating result.

Generally, the formulas used are based on some sort of variation of CAMELS factors. CAMELS stands for Capital, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity and Sensitivity to market risk.

The following are some private companies offering  bank strength rating information;

A.M. Best Company
Website: http://www3.ambest.com/banks/default.asp                           
Oldwick, New Jersey 08858-0700
Phone: (908) 439-2200 x5633
Fax: (908) 439-2237
e-mail: banking.analysis@ambest.com  

Bankrate, Inc.
Website: http://www.bankrate.com/
11760 US Highway One
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
(561) 630-2400
e-mail: customerservice@bankrate.com  

BauerFinancial, Inc.  
Website: http://www.bauerfinancial.com/
P.O. Box 143520
Penthouse 1-A, Gables International Plaza
2655 LeJeune Road
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Phone: (800) 388-6686
Fax: (800) 230-9569
e-mail: customerservice@bauerfinancial.com  

  Creative Investment Research, Inc.
  Website: http://www.creativeinvest.com/
  P.O. Box 55793
  Washington, DC 20040-5793
  Phone: (866) 867-3795
  Fax: (866) 867-3795
  e-mail: info@creativeinvest.com  

FIS - Financial Information Systems, LLC
Website: www.FEDFIS.com
250 West Southlake Blvd
Suite 204
Southlake, Texas 76092
Phone 512-858-0164 or 877-410-2424
Email www.info@fedfis.com  

 IDC Financial Publishing  
 Website: http://www.idcfp.com
 P.O. Box 140
 700 Walnut Ridge Drive
 Suite 201
 Hartland, Wisconsin, 53029
 Phone: (800) 525-5457
 Fax: (262) 367-6497
 email: idcfp@execpc.com  

Institutional Risk Analytics
Website: http://www.institutionalriskanalytics.com
14352 Yukon Avenue
Hawthorne, California 90250
Phone: (310) 676-3300
Fax: (310) 943-1570
e-mail: info@institutionalriskanalytics.com  

LACE Financial Corp.  
Website: http://www.lacefinancial.com/
118 North Court Street
Frederick, Maryland, 21701
Phone: (301) 662-1011
Fax: (301) 662-1458 

Veribanc  
Website: http://www.veribanc.com
P.O. Box 1610
One Social Street
Woonsocket, Rhode Island 02895
Phone: (800) 837-4226
email: service@veribanc.com  

Weiss Ratings Inc.  
Website: http://www.weissratings.com
4176 Burns Road
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410
Phone: (800) 289-9222
Fax: (561) 625-6685 

Contact each company to get detailed information on the products they offer, frequency of publication and cost, the types of institutions rated, their specific rating method, and other products that they offer.  

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