Ranking · efficiency ratio

Most Efficient Banks

Banks with the lowest efficiency ratios among institutions with at least 10% of assets in loans, meaning they spend less to generate each dollar of revenue. Trust and custody banks are excluded: with minimal lending activity, their operating expense relative to revenue can look artificially low, a mathematical byproduct of having little banking business, not genuine operating efficiency.

Compiled from official public sources by the publisher.
7.5%
Top: Titan Bank
50
Banks ranked
28.0%
Avg Tier 1 capital
3.68%
Avg ROA

Data updated July 2026

What this ranking shows

Titan Bank of Mineral Wells, TX leads at 7.5%; the #50 cutoff to make this list is 31.9%.

7.5%
#1 - Titan Bank
31.9%
#50, the cutoff to make this list
28.0%
average Tier 1 capital ratio
3.68%
average return on assets

Rankings are point-in-time snapshots from public FDIC Call Report data, not recommendations, and not official FDIC ratings. Deposits stay FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor, per category.

For context: the 50 banks in this ranking average 28.0% Tier 1 capital, above the 16.9% average across all 4,313 FDIC-insured banks PlainBankData tracks.

The bar to make this list

Every one of the 4,302 banks with a reported efficiency ratio, bucketed. The #50 cutoff to make this list (31.9%) falls in the highlighted band.

Top 10 by efficiency ratio

Most Efficient Banks - top 10
  1. 1
    Titan Bank 7.5%

    Mineral Wells, TX · Grade A · $820M

  2. 2
    Bank of Alma 11.6%

    Alma, WI · Grade A · $334M

  3. 3
    Wells Fargo Bank South Central 15.1%

    Houston, TX · Grade A · $2.8B

  4. 4
    Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB 15.3%

    Westlake, TX · Grade A · $27.0B

  5. 5
    BMW Bank of North America 17.6%

    Salt Lake City, UT · Grade A · $12.8B

  6. 6
    The First National Bank of Bangor 17.7%

    Bangor, WI · Grade A · $382M

  7. 7
    First Credit Bank 18.8%

    Los Angeles, CA · Grade A · $501M

  8. 8
    Morgan Stanley Bank 20.0%

    Salt Lake City, UT · Grade A · $253.3B

  9. 9
    State Bank of Texas 20.1%

    Irving, TX · Grade A · $2.8B

  10. 10
    The Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc. 20.7%

    Salt Lake City, UT · Grade A · $806M

Top 10 of 50 ranked banks · FDIC Call Report Q4 2025. Bar length is relative to the efficiency ratio of the leading bank.

Full ranking (50)

# Bank Grade Efficiency Ratio
1 Titan Bank, N.A. A 7.5%
2 Bank of Alma A 11.6%
3 Wells Fargo Bank South Central, National Association A 15.1%
4 Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB A 15.3%
5 BMW Bank of North America A 17.6%
6 The First National Bank of Bangor A 17.7%
7 First Credit Bank A 18.8%
8 Morgan Stanley Bank, National Association A 20.0%
9 State Bank of Texas A 20.1%
10 The Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc. A 20.7%
11 Prime Alliance Bank A 21.0%
12 Charles Schwab Bank, SSB A 21.5%
13 Grant County State Bank A 21.9%
14 Square Financial Services, Inc. A 22.6%
15 UBS Bank USA A 22.8%
16 Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association A 23.1%
17 John Deere Financial, f.s.b. A 23.3%
18 Medallion Bank A 23.6%
19 First Federal Savings and Loan Bank A 24.2%
20 Stifel Bank A 24.5%
21 First National Bank of America A 24.7%
22 Bank of New England A 26.3%
23 Optum Bank, Inc. A 26.3%
24 Wells Fargo National Bank West A 27.2%
25 Stifel Bank and Trust A 27.3%
26 American Interstate Bank A 27.8%
27 Security State Bank A 28.3%
28 Sallie Mae Bank A 28.6%
29 The First National Bank of Stanton A 28.6%
30 The Falls City National Bank A 29.0%
31 Central Bank of Kansas City A 29.0%
32 RBC Bank, (Georgia) National Association A 29.6%
33 Bank of Montana A 29.7%
34 First Electronic Bank A 30.0%
35 The First National Bank of Mertzon A 30.2%
36 Preferred Bank A 30.4%
37 Peoples State Bank A 30.4%
38 Central Bank B 30.6%
39 Merrick Bank A 30.8%
40 Eaglemark Savings Bank A 30.9%
41 Village Bank and Trust, National Association A 31.1%
42 Horizon Bank A 31.1%
43 River City Bank A 31.3%
44 Pioneer Trust Bank, National Association A 31.4%
45 Bank of Odessa A 31.4%
46 First General Bank A 31.4%
47 Malaga Bank F.S.B. A 31.4%
48 Heritage Bank A 31.6%
49 ServisFirst Bank A 31.7%
50 Northbrook Bank and Trust Company, National Association A 31.9%

What "Most Efficient Banks" actually measures

Banks with the lowest efficiency ratios among institutions with at least 10% of assets in loans, meaning they spend less to generate each dollar of revenue. Trust and custody banks are excluded: with minimal lending activity, their operating expense relative to revenue can look artificially low, a mathematical byproduct of having little banking business, not genuine operating efficiency. This page shows up to 50 institutions sorted on the specific metric named above, reported as filed by each bank in its quarterly FDIC Call Report, not blended with proprietary signals, customer reviews, or non-financial inputs. A bank's position shifts each quarter as call-report data refreshes; rankings are point-in-time snapshots, not trailing averages.

How to use a ranked view

Single-metric rankings narrow the universe of 4,300+ FDIC-insured banks down to a manageable shortlist. They are not, on their own, a recommendation. A bank at #1 for one metric (say ROA) may sit at #800 on another (efficiency ratio or Tier 1 capital). Pick the top 10–20 candidates that match a metric you care about, then click into each bank's profile for the full balance-sheet picture.

What this ranking does not tell you

This list says nothing about deposit-account features (fees, ATM networks, app quality, branch availability), customer service, or commercial credit quality beyond the broad ratios FDIC publishes. A community bank may rank well on Tier 1 capital and ROA yet still be wrong for someone who needs a national branch footprint. Every depositor at every bank here is FDIC-insured to the standard limit; the ranking is about institutional health, not personal account safety.

Methodology and recompute cadence

All metrics derive from the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile and Institution Directory, both public-domain. We recompute the rankings on each FDIC quarterly release; the page lastmod reflects the most recent recompute. Banks that merged, were acquired, or closed between quarters are removed at the first refresh that captures the event. A bank that fails to file on time is excluded from rate-based rankings for that quarter, we do not impute or extrapolate.

What to do with this ranking

Turn the leaderboard into a shortlist.

  • Open the profiles of the top banks to read the full four-pillar breakdown behind each score. Top bank profile
  • Cross-reference against another ranking, top of both profitability and capital adequacy is the most resilient profile. Best capitalized
  • Confirm your deposit insurance coverage before moving any balance over $250,000. FDIC insurance

Not financial advice. Health grades are PlainBankData's interpretation of public FDIC Call Report data, not official FDIC ratings or predictions of future performance.

Data compiled from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (FDIC BankFind Suite, Quarterly Banking Profile). See our methodology for the full pipeline, source vintage, and column lineage.

Retrieved and compiled by PlainBankData from FDIC Call Report (FFIEC 031/041) filings, Q4 2025.

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Every figure on PlainBankData is rendered directly from FDIC federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FDIC federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of Q4 2025.

Disclaimer: Data from the FDIC BankFind Suite. PlainBankData does not rate or rank banks as investment or safety recommendations. Health grades are informational only, computed from public regulatory filings. Always verify current standing directly with FDIC.gov before making financial decisions.