Bank Safety Guides
Eight plain-language guides on how PlainBankData turns FDIC Call Report filings into A–F bank health grades, and what depositors should know about FDIC insurance and bank failures.
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) BankFind Suite Call Report data (Q4 2025), PlainBankData grades 4,313 insured banks from Tier 1 capital, ROA, Texas Ratio, and efficiency. These guides explain the formulas, the $250,000 insurance ceiling, and how Failed Bank List FAILURE resolutions differ from ASSISTANCE, so readers can use the grades without mistaking historical assistance for closures.
- 8 guides covering grades, ratios, insurance, and failures
- Q4 2025 Call Report vintage for live bank figures
- FDIC named source on every guide
Plain-language guides on bank financial health, FDIC insurance, and how to protect your deposits. Data from FDIC Call Reports and the FDIC Failed Bank List; see our methodology for the dual-vintage rule.
How Bank Health Grades Work
Learn how PlainBankData computes A-F health grades from FDIC data, Tier 1 capital ratios, ROA, Texas Ratio, and efficiency ratios explained.
FDIC Deposit Insurance Explained
What is FDIC insurance, how much it covers, what account categories qualify, and what happens when a bank fails.
How to Read Bank Financials
Understanding Tier 1 capital, Texas Ratio, ROA, ROE, efficiency ratio, and net interest margin, the key metrics for evaluating bank health.
Understanding Bank Capital Ratios
What Tier 1, leverage, and total capital ratios tell you about bank safety, and the blind spots they cannot capture.
What the Texas Ratio Means for Your Bank
The Texas Ratio was created to predict bank failures. Learn how the formula works, what the numbers mean, and when a rising ratio matters.
How to Compare Banks by Safety Grade
Safety grades simplify complex FDIC data into a single letter. Learn what they capture, what they miss, and how to compare banks effectively.
Bank Failures: What Depositors Should Know
How to spot warning signs, what happens when a bank fails, and how FDIC insurance protects your deposits. A practical guide.
Community Banks vs. Large Banks
Community banks and large banks score differently on safety metrics for structural reasons. Learn how to compare them fairly.
Methodology
Our guides are based on publicly available FDIC data, Call Report filings for live bank metrics and the Failed Bank List for historical FAILURE resolutions (ASSISTANCE excluded). Figures cited in these guides are drawn from those official datasets, with sources referenced throughout.
We aim to present complex regulatory data in plain language. When methodologies differ between feeds or change over time, we note these variations inline. Editorial reviews keep the explanations aligned with the current Call Report vintage.
Download the FDIC bank financial-conditions extract cited on this page: fdic-bank-financial-conditions.csv (public domain / CC0).