Recently, there have been regular reports about the revocation of a license from another bank. Over the past six months alone, this has affected more than 35 banks. Obviously, in difficult economic conditions, the trend towards deprivation of licenses and bankruptcy of banks will continue. This makes Russians think about the reliability of their banks and makes them choose a financial institution with particular caution to open a deposit.
There are a number of criteria that can be used to assess the bank's reliability.
Availability of a valid license and participation in the deposit insurance system
The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing a bank is the presence of a valid license. You can check whether the license is valid on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. All financial institutions with valid licenses are presented in the section "Information on Credit Institutions".
It is worth paying attention to the terms of the license. The longer a bank has been on the market, the more stable it is. Work experience indirectly testifies to the availability of well-functioning anti-crisis mechanisms at the bank. However, you should not overestimate the value of this parameter.
Please note that the bank in which you plan to invest money is included in the deposit insurance system. This information is easy to check on the DIA (Deposit Insurance Agency) website. In this case, even with the bankruptcy of the bank, you are guaranteed to receive compensation from the state in the range of 1.4 million rubles.
Bank reliability ratings
Another important criterion may be the bank's place in the reliability ratings. They are compiled by Russian and international rating agencies. The most authoritative on a global scale are such agencies as Fitch, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s. Among the Russian ones, the largest are RA Expert, RusRating, AK&M.
A significant signal that makes you think is the revision of the bank's rating for the worse recently or the presence of a negative outlook.
Please note that the accounting statements that underlie the ratings do not always reflect the real financial picture. Recent experience with license revocations has confirmed this. There are not isolated cases when huge "holes" were found in the bank's balance sheet with successful external financial dynamics. There are other reasons that raise questions about the objectivity of ratings. Therefore, you should not trust them infinitely either.
Bank financial statements
All major Russian banks operate as OJSCs. These are public companies that are required to publish their statements in the public domain.
What values should you pay attention to when evaluating a bank? First of all, this is the size of the authorized capital and the amount of assets. The larger the bank, the higher the likelihood that the state will support it or sanitize it in case of any difficulties. It is better to look at the indicated values in comparison with other banks. It is convenient to do this on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or RBC Rating (in the Banks section).
It is possible to indirectly estimate the size of the bank on the basis of the number of branches in the country. In the opinion of the bankers themselves, a developed branch network is one of the indicators of reliability.
When studying financial indicators, also pay attention to the dynamics of profits and losses, profitability, the amount of working capital. In statics, these values are not very indicative.
The Central Bank itself, when analyzing banks, draws attention to such criteria as:
- instant liquidity (the minimum allowable value is 15%);
- current liquidity (at least 50%);
- sufficiency of own funds (standard - 10%).
Bank owners
Bank statements must contain information about the bank's shareholders. The presence of the state or large corporations in the ownership structure increases the stability of the bank. After all, such owners can provide him with additional support in case of financial difficulties. Whereas a high percentage of participation of individuals creates additional risks.
Information background
Read the latest news from the bank and reviews of ordinary depositors. Money transfer disruptions, payment delays, branch closings, major lawsuits are all dangerous signals. You can also analyze all legal disputes in which the bank is involved on the website kad.arbitr.ru. If a bank often appears as a defendant, this indicates that there are problems and even an impending bankruptcy.
The opening of a new branch, the launch of new applications, the attraction of foreign investors, etc. can be considered as positive news.
Take a look at the banking programs offered by the financial institution. Thus, super-high rates against the background of the market may indicate problems with liquidity at the bank.
