Ranking
Safest Banks in the US 2026
Every bank we cover that is headquartered in the United States, from the big four to online banks and apps that hold your money at partner banks. Each score combines capital strength, deposit protection, liquidity and funding, conduct, digital security and how the bank came through crises since 2008. Open any bank for the data and sources behind its score.
Updated · Scores update with each page
The ranking
JPMorgan Chase
For a depositor, Chase is about as safe as a bank gets. Your money is FDIC-insured up to $250,000, and the group has thick capital and sits alone in the top systemic-importance bucket in use. Its conduct record is the weak spot, with large US fines in 2020 and 2024.
Score 80, grade BCharles Schwab
Schwab's banks hold a very large capital buffer and mostly FDIC-insured deposits, and client securities in the brokerage are segregated with SIPC cover. The catch is that cash may sit at a Schwab bank, at TD Bank or in the brokerage, each protected differently, and Schwab paid $187 million in a 2022 SEC case.
Score 79, grade BPNC
PNC Bank is a sound place for insured deposits, with strong deposit ratings, steady profits and a record with only small regulatory penalties. Its CET1 cushion is modest after the FirstBank deal, its liquidity coverage ratio is close to the minimum, and about 45% of its deposits are above the FDIC limit.
Score 78, grade BAmerican Express National Bank
American Express savings and CDs are held at American Express National Bank, an FDIC-insured bank, and about 92% of its direct deposits are within the limit. Capital and liquidity are solid. The weak spot is conduct, from a $230 million sales practices settlement to an expected AML action.
Score 76, grade BBank of America
A safe home for insured deposits, backed by FDIC cover and some of the highest bank ratings in the US. Its capital buffer over the minimum is modest, it needed a large federal rescue in 2008–09, and a 2024 anti-money-laundering consent order is still open.
Score 75, grade BMorgan Stanley
Cash at Morgan Stanley's two US banks, including E*TRADE and wealth-account sweeps, is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per bank. The group holds a wide capital buffer and AA-range bank ratings. Weak spots are a $249 million block-trading fraud case in 2024, fines over lost customer data and its near miss in 2008.
Score 75, grade BSynchrony Bank
Synchrony Bank, the online savings bank behind many US store cards, holds capital well above its requirement, and almost all its deposits are within the FDIC limit. Its ratings are only BBB, and as GE Capital Retail Bank it paid $225 million in a 2014 CFPB and Justice Department case.
Score 75, grade BTruist Bank
Truist Bank is a sound home for insured deposits, with capital well above its requirement and single-A ratings. The weaker spots are a modest liquidity cushion with about 44% of deposits above the FDIC limit, a 2023 cyber incident, and an overdraft class action settled for up to $240 million.
Score 74, grade BU.S. Bank
U.S. Bank, the main bank of U.S. Bancorp, is a safe place for insured deposits, with a solid capital buffer and a record of steady profits. It is not a G-SIB, its liquidity coverage ratio is close to the minimum and about half its deposits are uninsured. Its record includes a 2018 money-laundering case.
Score 74, grade BWells Fargo
Financially sound and fully covered by the FDIC up to $250,000, so ordinary deposits are safe. The low mark is for conduct. The fake-accounts scandal led to billions in penalties and a seven-year cap on its growth that the Federal Reserve lifted only in June 2025.
Score 73, grade BGoldman Sachs
Marcus and Apple Savings deposits sit at Goldman Sachs Bank USA and are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, so ordinary savers are well protected. The group is a G-SIB with an A1/A+/AA- rated bank. Its conduct record is weak, led by the 1MDB bribery scandal, and its capital cushion has narrowed in 2026.
Score 72, grade BSoFi Bank
SoFi Bank, N.A. is a US national bank supervised by the OCC, and deposits are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, or up to $3 million through its partner-bank programme. Capital is well above the minimum. The catches are a short history as a bank, a loan book built on unsecured personal loans and a string of smaller fines.
Score 72, grade BCapital One
Capital One, N.A. holds mostly insured retail deposits, a 165% liquidity coverage ratio and a wide capital buffer, so savers up to $250,000 are well protected. The weak spots are its conduct record, now including Discover's card-fee case, the 2019 breach of data on about 106 million people and BBB-range ratings.
Score 71, grade BAlly Bank
Ally Bank is an online-only, FDIC-insured bank whose savers are almost all within the $250,000 limit, which keeps its funding stable. The weak points sit with the parent, Ally Financial, the former GMAC, which has the lowest investment-grade ratings, a modest capital buffer and a 2008 government rescue.
Score 70, grade BCitizens Bank
Citizens Bank is a sound place for insured deposits, with A-range deposit ratings and enough liquidity to cover its uninsured deposits. It is held back by a narrow cushion over a high stress-test requirement, CFPB penalties in 2015 and 2023, and a history as part of RBS, which needed a state rescue in 2008.
Score 70, grade BCitibank
Insured deposits at Citibank, N.A. are as safe as at any US bank. Above the FDIC limit the picture is weaker, with a modest capital buffer, a largely corporate deposit base and repeated penalties for slow progress on fixing risk controls under 2020 consent orders.
Score 68, grade CChime
Chime is an app, not a bank. Your money is held at The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank and is FDIC-insured on a pass-through basis, which works only if the records are right. Both banks are well capitalised but small, Chime has paid regulators over slow refunds and customer service, and it plans to buy Stride in 2027.
Score 62, grade CVaro Bank
Varo Bank, N.A. is an OCC-chartered national bank, so deposits are FDIC-insured directly, not through a partner. The weak side is the business. Varo lost $91.8 million in 2025 and $46.6 million in the first half of 2026, its deposits have shrunk by almost half since 2024, and investors keep topping up its capital.
Score 60, grade CEvolve Bank & Trust
Evolve Bank & Trust is a small Arkansas bank behind many fintech apps. It is FDIC-insured and well capitalised, but it has been under a Federal Reserve cease-and-desist order since June 2024, held money in the Synapse collapse and lost data on 7.6 million people to ransomware in 2024.
Score 46, grade D
How we rank US banks
This list takes every bank page we have for a company headquartered in the United States. It includes brokers' banks, such as Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley, and Chime, which is an app rather than a bank but holds its customers' money at US partner banks. Foreign banks with US arms, such as TD and Santander, are not on it.
Each bank has six scored factors. Capital strength counts for 25%: the CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary against what regulators require, and credit ratings. Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary counts for 20%, liquidity and funding for 15%, conduct over the last ten years for 15%, digital security for 15% and stability since 2008 for 10%. The weights and rubrics are on how we score banks.
The order is not set by hand. It is the bank scores sorted from the highest down, so it moves when we update a page after new results, a fine or an outage. That is why the text does not quote scores.
What the top US banks have in common
Most banks near the top have strong credit ratings, deposits that are largely insured or very stable, and capital above what the Federal Reserve requires, often by a wide margin. The very largest, like JPMorgan Chase, are G-SIBA global systemically important bank: one of the large banks the Financial Stability Board lists each year because its failure could harm the world economy.More in the glossary, which means stricter rules and a larger capital surcharge.
Conduct and history pull many big names down. Several of the largest banks took federal money in 2008–09, and some carry long records of fines and consent orders. That does not make deposits there unsafe, but it lowers the score.
What the score means for your money
For most savers, the Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary limit matters more than the score. Up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category, at each insured bank, your money is protected whichever bank you choose. The score tells you more about money above the limit, about how reliably you can reach your account, and about how the bank behaves.
The lower scores here belong mostly to younger fintech banks and to banks and apps built on fintech partnerships, where your money can pass through several companies. If you use an app, check which bank holds your money and that the bank's name appears on your statement. Chime and Evolve Bank & Trust explain how pass-through cover works and what went wrong in the Synapse case.
Questions
What is the safest bank in the US?
The bank at the top of this list has the highest score we give a US bank right now, but for an ordinary saver the differences near the top are small. At any Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary bank, deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category, are protected. The score matters most for money above that limit and for how well the bank treats customers.
Is my money safe if my bank fails?
Up to the Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary limit, yes. Insured deposits are covered up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category, at each insured bank, and the FDIC normally pays out or moves accounts to another bank within days. Money above the limit could be partly lost or delayed.
Are online banks and apps as safe as big banks?
An online bank with its own charter, such as Ally Bank, SoFi Bank or Varo Bank, is Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary directly, like a high-street bank. An app such as Chime is not a bank; it holds your money at partner banks, and the FDIC cover is pass-through, which works only if the records of who owns what are right. In the 2024 Synapse collapse those records failed and many app users could not get their money for months.
Why does a bank with a big scandal still score well?
Conduct is one of six factors. A bank can have a poor conduct record and still hold thick capital, stable deposits and full Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary cover, so its overall score stays high while its conduct score is low. Each bank page shows the factor scores separately.
Why is TD Bank not on this list?
This list covers banks headquartered in the US. TD Bank, N.A. is the US bank of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada, so it sits on our Canadian bank page. US deposits there are Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary like those at any US bank.
Does this ranking tell me which bank to choose?
No. It compares how safe your money is, not fees, rates or service. Use it to check that a bank you already like is sound, and keep each account within the Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary limit if your savings are large.