The Missouri Bankers’ Association reported this week in a news release to banks that Web site ratings systems are not official, as are FDIC reports, though FDIC reports are not public record.

“The FDIC has good reason not to publish their ratings,” the news release reads. “Banks with problems often work them out over time. On average, the vast majority of banks on the FDIC problem list come back to healthy standing over time.”

The FDIC, however, lists several bank ranking services for the public to use, including Bankrate.com. And some bankers say they use the information supplied by sites like Bankrate.com themselves.

Edward DiMaria, senior vice present and chief financial officer for Bankrate.com, responded by noting it is a 30-year-old research organization that initially supplied information to the banking industry but evolved into a consumer site. Its information today is used by many inside and outside the industry, including The Wall Street Journal, he said.

“It’s a very good source for people,” he said, adding that IndyMac, the bank that federal regulators closed this summer, received the lowest rating available from Bankrate.com.

“By the way, they were an advertiser,” DiMaria noted.

Lee said one of the best ways to evaluate a bank’s security is to know the bank and to verify independently that it is FDIC insured. That can be done on the Internet at www.fdic.gov.

Lee and Buerge also emphasized that the FDIC insures depositors’ money so that losses like those threatening investments don’t happen. The FDIC insures individual depositors for up to $100,000 per bank and up to $250,000 for retirement accounts.

“A lot of the big failures that have been on Wall Street have been investment firms,” Lee said. “A lot of the media is calling them banks but they’re not. They’re not community banks. ... There are some banks that are struggling, but community banks as a whole is a strong industry. They’ve got good capital, good liquidity. Banks as a whole are getting a bad rap right now.”

On the street

“There’s a huge difference between what’s been going on on Wall Street and Main Street Joplin.”

— Alden Buerge, president and CEO of First State Bank of Joplin, 802 S. Main St.