Methodology & Data Sources

Data Sources (two populations)

PlainBankData joins two FDIC public feeds that must never be treated as one vintage:

• Call Report / BankFind Suite (Q4 2025, REPDTE 20251231), active FDIC-insured institutions: assets, deposits, Tier 1 / ROA / Texas / efficiency ratios, and the A–F health grades derived from those filings. Source: banks.data.fdic.gov.
• Failed Bank List (1934–present), historical resolutions. On state and national surfaces we count only resolution_type=FAILURE (~3,521 rows). ASSISTANCE rows (~593) are open-bank government assistance (e.g. crisis-era Bank of America N.A. assistance) and are excluded so a still-operating bank is never labeled a failure beside current Call Report health. Source: FDIC Failed Bank List.

State and national “failures since 2000” totals use that same FAILURE-only filter end to end, so a rebuild cannot silently reintroduce ASSISTANCE into published failure counts.

Coverage

PlainBankData covers 4,300+ FDIC-insured institutions - commercial banks, savings banks, and savings associations, as of the most recent quarterly Call Report filing. This includes institutions of all sizes, from community banks with under $100 million in assets to the largest systemically important financial institutions. Each institution is identified by its FDIC Certificate Number (CERT), which uniquely identifies the charter across all regulatory databases.

How We Process the Data

1. Download FDIC FFIEC Call Report data from FDIC's public Statistics on Depository Institutions (SDI) tool
2. Extract capital adequacy ratios, profitability metrics, and risk indicators for each institution
3. Calculate composite health scores using the four-factor formula documented below
4. Assign A–F letter grades using fixed score thresholds (not a curve or relative ranking)
5. Load into our search-optimized database

Key Metrics & Grading

Our composite health score (0-100) sums points from four weighted factors, each computed directly from that bank's own Call Report figures:

The four factors sum to a 0-100 score, which maps to a letter grade: A at 80+, B at 65+, C at 50+, D at 35+, F below 35. Every bank detail page shows this exact per-factor point breakdown for that specific institution. Well-capitalized thresholds follow FDIC Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) standards; Texas Ratio is non-performing loans ÷ (equity + loan-loss reserves).

We also display, but do not score, two related Call Report figures for context on each bank's page: return on equity (ROE) and non-performing loan totals (with loan-loss reserve coverage). These inform the plain-language discussion but are not inputs to the composite score above.

Corpus placement (#N of M)

Bank and state detail pages carry a corpus-relative placement derived from the FDIC Call Report inventory PlainBankData tracks, never a hand-picked list:

• Banks (assets) - ranked by total_assets DESC among institutions with a non-null assets figure (largest balance sheet = #1). Same basis as the national asset-rank signals already shown in the bank verdict band.
• Banks (health) - ranked by health_score DESC (ties broken by assets, then slug) among institutions with a computed composite score. This is the portal's four-factor Call Report score, not an FDIC supervisory rating.
• States (headcount) - ranked by bank_count DESC among states with at least one FDIC-insured HQ bank (same inventory mass as the state listings).
• States (health) - ranked by avg_health_score DESC among those same states (highest average composite = #1).

Placement text leads with an "According to PlainBankData's FDIC Call Report corpus ranking" line and links here so the derivation is reviewable. Ranks update when the Call Report extract refreshes.

Data Currency

The FDIC releases updated Call Report data quarterly. We update our database when new quarterly data becomes available. There is typically a 45–60 day lag between the quarter end and FDIC publishing the data.

Limitations

• Health grades are backward-looking, they reflect past financial performance, not a prediction of future safety
• Call Report data is filed by the institution and subject to later revision
• Our grading model is a simplified analytical tool, not a substitute for regulatory examinations
• This site is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice
• Health grades are based on publicly available quantitative data only and do not incorporate qualitative factors such as management quality, competitive position, or regulatory examination findings that are not publicly disclosed

How the Source Agency Collects Data

Every FDIC-insured depository institution is required by federal banking law to file quarterly Call Reports (officially the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income, or FFIEC 031/041/051). These filings detail the institution's balance sheet, income statement, capital ratios, loan portfolio composition, and other financial metrics. Call Reports are filed electronically with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and made publicly available through the FDIC's Statistics on Depository Institutions (SDI) system.

Banks are subject to periodic on-site examinations by their primary federal regulator (FDIC, OCC, or Federal Reserve), which provides an additional layer of verification beyond the self-reported Call Report data. However, PlainBankData relies on the published Call Report figures, not examination findings.

Data Accuracy Commitment

PlainBankData presents FDIC data without modification. Financial metrics, ratios, and grades are computed directly from reported Call Report figures using documented formulas. We do not interpolate missing data or adjust reported figures. If you find any information that appears incorrect, please contact us so we can verify against the source filing.

Contact

Questions about our methodology or found a data error? Reach us at hello@plainbankdata.com or through our contact page.