Coral Gables, Florida, March 17, 2021 Coral Gables, FL: BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc., the nation’s premier Bank and Credit Union rating firm, remains cautiously optimistic about the condition of our nation’s banks and credit unions. Net income was down in 2020 as financial institutions put away provisions for potential loan losses. While those losses are largely theoretical at this point, the majority of federally-insured banks and credit unions have prepared for a worst case scenario.
A new stimulus package and opening up of the economy will help keep most loan categories in the black with one exception: commercial real estate (CRE). CRE, which includes shopping malls, movie theaters, office buildings and apartment buildings housing five or more families, is in a class of its own. Of course, as vaccines become more readily available and people gain the confidence to go back out en mass, things will get better. At this point, though, it is still too early to know whether those reserves will turn into profits (as we hope) or into losses. At least in the majority of cases, Bauer believes it will be the former.
Is your financial institution even involved in CRE? You don’t have to know the answer; Bauer has all of the financial data on your federally-insured financial institution and wrapped it up in an easy to understand star-rating. Bauer’s star-ratings are assigned on a scale of zero to five-stars with five-stars being the strongest and reflect the overall financial strength of the institution. All institutions rated 5-Stars or 4-Stars are recommended by Bauer.
These ratings are updated four times a year and new ratings have just been released. Bauer’s latest star-ratings, based on December 31, 2020 financial data, on all federally-insured banks and credit unions are now available, always free of charge, at bauerfinancial.com.
To find out the rating of your bank or credit union, simply visit bauerfinancial.com. Look up as many ratings as you like. It really is free. While you’re there, check out our CD rate pages to get the best CD rates in the country and read Bauer’s Blog to get more insights into what’s going on in the banking industry, all from the comfort and safety of your home.
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