The Safest Banks (Updated!)

While much of the hysteria surrounding bank failures has died down, it’s still worth doing your homework when selecting a bank. With that in mind, I thought I’d update my list of the safest banks. The following list is based on Bankrate’s “Safe & Sound” ratings* of the financial condition of their parents companies:

  1. FNBO Direct – 4 stars
  2. Everbank – 4 stars
  3. ING Direct – 4 stars
  4. WT Direct – 3 stars
  5. HSBC Direct – 2 stars
  6. E*Trade Bank – 2 stars
  7. Dollar Savings Direct – 1 star
  8. Emigrant Direct – 1 star

If you’re curious about how these banks stack up in terms of yields, check out my updated list of online bank interest rates. There have been a lot of recent changes.

Or… If you’re looking for a higher yield than a regular bank can offer, and you don’t mind taking on some additional risk, you might want to check out Lending Club. It’s not FDIC-insured, but annual returns have averaged 9.05% APY over the past 18 months. It’s free to open an account, and you can get started with as little as $25.

*Definition of ratings:
5 stars – Superior
4 stars – Sound
3 stars – Performing
2 stars – Below peer group
1 star – Lowest rated

Published on February 3rd, 2009 - 12 Comments
Filed under: Banking
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

  1. iGoBanking is another good one, they have competitive rates at 3.03% and a 4 star safe and sound ranking. They are a division of the Flushing Savings Bank in New York.

    Comment by urbantux — Feb 3rd 2009 @ 10:44 am
  2. I know you mentioned Pentagon Federal in your post about your mortgage, what about this institution as well as USAA?

    Thanks!

    Heather

    Comment by Heather — Feb 3rd 2009 @ 1:34 pm
  3. Thanks for the updates and the interest rates. Keep up the good work.

    Comment by Lynn — Feb 3rd 2009 @ 4:29 pm
  4. How do you feel about earning good interests from savings accounts but having to use this as income interest for taxes? How do we get ahead?

    Comment by Gail — Feb 3rd 2009 @ 9:54 pm
  5. Glad to see one of my banks in the top three, but where are the “Superior” banks? (That’s a rhetorical question).

    Comment by DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Feb 4th 2009 @ 7:38 am
  6. Customer service can overwrite savings rates. I’ll be happy taking .5% lower rates in order to have solid CS. ING fits this category.

    Comment by thomas — Feb 4th 2009 @ 12:32 pm
  7. I found this a link to this list on Wise Bread, and when I got here I was counfounded to not see Branch Banking & Trust on here. Their Bank Rate Safe & Sound was a 3 and they cover most of the East Coast with the exclusion of New England.

    So I was just wondering what else you were using to base this list off of besides the Bank Rate Safe & Sound and the banks being fairly large. Forgive me if I’m being naive.

    Comment by James — Feb 6th 2009 @ 7:14 am
  8. James: This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of every safe bank out there. Rather, I’m simply listing the Safe & Sound ratings for the most prominent online banks (which are available to anyone, anywhere in the country). There are simply too many banks out there for me to cover them all, especially when many banks don’t have a truly national presence.

    Comment by nickel — Feb 6th 2009 @ 8:15 am
  9. Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. Love the blog, and you have a new subscriber from me. Have a good day.

    Comment by James — Feb 6th 2009 @ 8:46 am
  10. I’m surprised HSBC is only ranked 2 stars. They are the only int’l bank not to have taken bailout money. HSBC also has an extensive branch network in Asia where personal savings rates are much higher. Maybe this ranking is for the US subsidiary only.

    Comment by Jensen — Feb 19th 2009 @ 2:59 pm
  11. Hi. Thanks for your list. Wondering why there is no mention of GMAC or the new name they are going by, Ally?

    Comment by John — Jun 12th 2009 @ 1:11 pm
  12. There is no such thing as ‘a safe bank’. Bank accounts may be raided by a court order at any time, such as IRS going after a lien they may put against a person. To collect they may (I’m sure it’s in the banking codes of law – federal reserve act) go after, court ordered, a persons bank account. That’s correct, any time they wish. If you met a judge and he didn’t like the way you look – well, you get the picture, sure that one is an exageration. Truthfully, this is 100% accurate information! NO LIES, NO BULLSHIT!! Also may be done in other fashions such as getting arrested, even for a trumped-up charge, yes that’s correct – wait for it – another “Court Order” – signed by a judge. There is a great deal to learn about the USA corrupt “justice” system. And I love this country, I’m not the one who had any part in corrupting it. There is a lot more down this rabbit hole baby! And none of what I’m saying is made-up or nonsense – it can all be verified in codified law – USC – laws or codes of laws the justice system uses against people. LEARN – START READING SOME OF THOSE ‘boring’ LAWS – it ain’t easy and a lot of it from my experience is boring and some of it may be tough to understand. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE. Guess what, in the good ‘ol USA this is a truth. Many of you have experienced this for yourselves. So, it’s every individuals own decision to study (more of what ‘they’ did not teach all of us, that I know of, in school, instead – memorizing the presidents names – HaHa – remember that one. That to me was a difficult pain in the a__, who knows maybe some of you enjoyed it, who am I to judge, did it ever assist in ‘making money’ for you, well for those few who applied this knowledge of history into a profession – honestly – great for you. How about conveniently not teaching everyone the basics of taking care of one’s own vehicle – changing the oil and filter(I agree, it’s messy (especially for girls) and you may need a good jack, changing an air filter, adding all those fluids, checking the air in tires, a bit more work and tools – replacing the correct spark plugs. Options – sure would be great for schools to teach all sentient beings the basics of survival in today’s society – cooking, sewing (the basics, dude, sewing a button back on that favorite shirt that’s falling apart anyway (hey, I’ve owned some of those over the years), vehicle basics (besides turning the key in the ignition and re-fueling), ironing – yes, my opinion – cotton shirts do feel better on the skin, how about how to earn money! – that would bust the school system wide open.
    Now, if the basics of living, in today’s society (not homeless on the street, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) were taught in k-12 school, then everyone would have more options and not be ‘forced’ to take the car to a mechanic for a ‘tune-up’ or oil change or just a new air filter – hey, what’s that plastic box hold inside of it under the hood of my car? – could be the air filter (example – go to car parts store, I just learned OSH has an auto section, pop hood open, extract air filter, cause you read the manual and learned where it’s at or your dad showed you, take that dirty thing (put it in a bag) into the store with you, now you have something to compare a new one to so you know, pretty-much for sure, you’re getting the correct replacement, find a new one, buy it, clean out the box it goes into, leaves, dirt, ect., put into box under the hood of you car, close the box lid properly so air does not leek around the filter, and you’re done. You just saved $__, a few bucks and feel more confident with you car, hopefully – HaHa. Peace Love Joy

    Comment by bill — Sep 5th 2009 @ 3:11 pm

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