KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | How to Tell If Your Bank is Safe

How to Tell If Your Bank is Safe

By: Nicole Garcia

Financial experts say most people don't have to worry about their deposits, because a federal agency guarantees your money, even if the bank fails, up to the insured amount.

But the failure of IndyMac Bank should serve as a wakeup call to anyone who's got more money in the bank, than is covered by FDIC insurance.

"The ones that are going to have to worry are the ones that have deposits in excess of $100,000; those customers and businesses really should be looking at the financial safety of their institution," says Keith Pretzer, a manager with Bank of the Sierra.

He says the locally based financial institution is in good shape to weather the economic storm.

One way to find out if your bank is safe is to just ask. Pretzer says safe and sound banks will be glad to talk about the prospect of bank failure and your money.

"If your banker doesn't know about it, I would suggest changing banks," Pretzer says.

The FDIC says so far this year, five banks across the nation have failed, and there are 90 banks currently considered "at-risk."

"At the end of the day, there will be some bank failures, but very few," said John Bovenzi, CEO of the FDIC.

So how did some banks get so deep into this mess?

Experts say a drop in home prices and the inability of homeowners to pay their mortgages have forced banks to eat the costs.

"And big surprise, they found out there's predatory, lending, but the bigger problem was predatory borrowers; some were overstating their income as much as five times," said Pretzer.

For the most part, IndyMac Bank didn't require customers to prove their income.

Now, the Federal Reserve has adopted new lending rules, which affects people thinking of applying for a home loan, or refinancing.

"Customers will have to be prepared to bring two years of tax returns, W-2's, pay stubs, they're going to have to start verifying sources of income.  And we're not relying so heavily on credit score anymore," said Pretzer.

To find out how your bank is doing, you could find several resources online.

The FDIC does not make it's list of safe and sound banks public, but several other agencies rate banks and that information could be found for free online.