Most secure bank

[masonstone]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

[arcticpineapplecorp.]

I wouldn't use any of them but I'm an online bank and credit union kind of guy. And I would never use Wells Fargo after what they did to their customers (that was bank robbery in reverse as Clark Howard puts it...when the bank robs you).

regarding FDIC limits,

https://www.google.com/search?q=is+fdic ... fox-b-1-ab

The standard deposit insurance coverage limit is $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. Deposits held in different ownership categories are separately insured, up to at least $250,000, even if held at the same bank.Jan 31, 2018
source: https://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/faq.html

[AlphaLess]

Which one is the most secure: not sure. I would argue that NONE of them are that secure, but that your funds won't disappear.

Where to keep money above FDIC-limit: NONE. Absolutely none.

In fact, I would not keep any substantial funds in any of those, as they pay crappy interest.

There are some decent banks with online accounts that pay 2.00% or more a year with non-term demand deposits.

And to add this. I have accounts in all of those that are local, but in small amounts, like $1-2K.

[RickBoglehead]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

No one on this forum has any clue who the most secure is.

[prudent]

I don't worry about my bank getting hacked. If they do, I won't lose any money because the bank will make good. If they didn't, they'd lose every customer. I put my efforts into making sure *I* don't get hacked - because then it becomes MY problem, not the bank's.

I would never go over the FDIC limit. If I felt I had to, I'd use a bank that uses ICS for deposit accounts, or CDARS for CDs. It spreads your funds out across multiple banks, keeping each one under the limit, yet you only have to interface with your bank.

[JoMoney]

You and your own security practices are the bigger factor to being vulnerable to getting your account "hacked". I don't have any insight into any of the banks specific security systems, but I would expect them to be largely similar.
JP Morgan Chase would be the largest bank, which would make it the biggest target, but it also has the best customer service ratings of those you listed, which is important when having to deal with issues.
I wouldn't feel comfortable holding more than FDIC amount at any bank .

[UpperNwGuy]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

1. Chase.
2. None.

[AlexisAtEasternState]

I would add using 2 factor authentication and ensuring it cannot be bypassed with easily guessable security questions (elementary school / mother's maiden name, brand of first car, etc) would be most prudent.
Agree with others regarding not storing more than FDIC limits at one institution.

[capitalG]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

1. Chase.
2. None.

Agree!

[stan1]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

1. Chase.
2. None.

Why do you say Chase is more secure from hackers? You may not like the other three for other reasons but what evidence do you have that Chase is more secure from hackers?

[UpperNwGuy]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

1. Chase.
2. None.

Why do you say Chase is more secure from hackers? You may not like the other three for other reasons but what evidence do you have that Chase is more secure from hackers?

I have been following banking and credit card forums for longer than I have been following Bogleheads, and my impression (without hard statistics to back up this statement) is that Chase is head and shoulders above the other three banks in information technology and cyber security.

[AlphaLess]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

No one on this forum has any clue who the most secure is.

Solid answer.
No one in the WORLD has any clue either!

[AlphaLess]

I would add using 2 factor authentication and ensuring it cannot be bypassed with easily guessable security questions (elementary school / mother's maiden name, brand of first car, etc) would be most prudent.
Agree with others regarding not storing more than FDIC limits at one institution.

C'mon. Those are just charades that banks have you play.

The real threat is in back-door attacks, social engineering on their staff, etc.

No one in their right mind is going to target your account specifically for money (unless you are a highly placed government official, someone valuable in the private sector or someone else similar with a lot of value to an adversary). They are going to target the back-end of the bank so that they can get 30MM accounts at once, not just one measly account.

[capitalG]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

1. Chase.
2. None.

Why do you say Chase is more secure from hackers? You may not like the other three for other reasons but what evidence do you have that Chase is more secure from hackers?

I have been following banking and credit card forums for longer than I have been following Bogleheads, and my impression (without hard statistics to back up this statement) is that Chase is head and shoulders above the other three banks in information technology and cyber security.

I've managed accounts (POA for parent) for a few years at Chase/Citi and have tried out BOA/WF. Based on their web portals, apps, and B&M (e.g. ATMs), Chase is continually investing the most (or maybe is just more effective) in their infrastructure. I frequently have issues with basic transactions with Citi (e.g. website crashes, down for maintenance), BOA has a very barebones web portal/app, and WF feels like it is out of the early 2000s. Entirely possible that I am reading too much into Chase UI/frontend but I think it stands to reason if they are investing this much in the experience they are likely investing similarly on the backend.

capG

[Turbo29]

Back in 2008 I had a credit card from Chase and accounts with Washington Mutual. When Washington Mutual collapsed and Chase took it over, Chase integrated all the accounts together without a hiccup.

[arf30]

Chase has the best IT out of the big banks by far, but if someone has your account number they can drain your account at any bank.

[clown]

Out of the large banks: BOA, CITI, Chase, Wells Fargo which one is the most secure for holding your funds without getting hacked. Also which do you fee most comfortable holding money greater than FDIC amount.

To the OP

1. No way anyone can tell. Whatever they are doing about cybersecurity is known ONLY to those on the inside and would NOT be released to anyone on the outside. Period. Think about it -- if you were the head of cybersecurity, would you leak your strategy to the media so that everyone would know what you are doing and the hackers could exploit vulnerabilities?. Aah -- that would be a no Bob.

2. Never

[Nate79]

Schwab:
https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn ... antee.html

[criticalmass]

I wouldn't use any of them but I'm an online bank and credit union kind of guy. And I would never use Wells Fargo after what they did to their customers (that was bank robbery in reverse as Clark Howard puts it...when the bank robs you).

What Wells Fargo did to their employees was even much worse than the awful things they did to customers.

Wells Fargo not only fired the employees who tried to do the right thing, Wells Fargo also destroyed their careers in the entire banking industry by marking their federal U5 forms with a permanent black marks to prevent any company from hiring them.

This was just one more dirty trick that a dirty bank used to punish their good employees horribly while they rewarded bad behavior.

• https://www.npr.org/2016/10/21/49880465 ... on-lawsuit
• https://www.npr.org/templates/transcrip ... =499805238
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/busi ... files.html

[123]

Our kids have always had full faith in the Bank of Dad and the Bank of Mom. However they have yet to place any deposits in either.

[Watty]

I never have more than a few months expenses at a bank.

The bigger question is what brokerage/mutual fund is the most secure.

[arcticpineapplecorp.]

I wouldn't use any of them but I'm an online bank and credit union kind of guy. And I would never use Wells Fargo after what they did to their customers (that was bank robbery in reverse as Clark Howard puts it...when the bank robs you).

What Wells Fargo did to their employees was even much worse than the awful things they did to customers.

Wells Fargo not only fired the employees who tried to do the right thing, Wells Fargo also destroyed their careers in the entire banking industry by marking their federal U5 forms with a permanent black marks to prevent any company from hiring them.

This was just one more dirty trick that a dirty bank used to punish their good employees horribly while they rewarded bad behavior.

• https://www.npr.org/2016/10/21/49880465 ... on-lawsuit
• https://www.npr.org/templates/transcrip ... =499805238
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/busi ... files.html

thank you for adding that. I should have mentioned that as well. I was aware of it. Remember hearing that on the planet money podcast.

[Random Musings]

I would never use Wells Fargo for a variety of reasons, including ones mentioned above. But I would not use any of those too big to fail banks anyway.

Never go above the FDIC.

RM

[JoMoney]

... I would not use any of those too big to fail banks anyway ...

Credit Unions or a local "Community Bank" work great... Many have something like a "free checking" option, and in this day and age I haven't seen one that doesn't offer online banking/bill pay/etc...
I would imagine most people on this board have access to a high-yield savings, Money market, or Treasury Direct account to keep short term cash that isn't needed for an immediate transaction, and any of those would offer higher rates than what the giant monster banks offer.