In the wake of the recent economic crisis, many banks and other financial institutions are finding themselves barely treading water or simply going under. Trust in your bank and its financial strength is essential--the last thing you want to do is put your hard-earned money at risk. If you have concerns about your bank or are wondering if it would be a good time to switch, why not do a

background check and find out for yourself? It may be worth your peace of mind to find out exactly where your bank stands, and how they're doing amidst the struggles of our economy.

Do Your Own Online Investigation

Make a checklist of information you want to find out about your bank. Important things to look for include whether or not your bank is FDIC insured, FDIC enforcements actions taken, total assets, and growth rate--in other words, are your bank's assets growing at an alarming speed, a snail's pace, or at a normal, average pace. Some of this information can be verified by visiting the FDIC website. The O.C.C. (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) site is another resource that can be used to track your bank's past and current situations including merges, closings, relocations, and more. There are also several sites that you can use to find out how your bank rates completely free of charge. The information that you get from a free bank rating site may be minimal, but if your bank has a poor rating, that may be all you need to see to place your money elsewhere.

Get a Detailed Bank Report

If you don't have the time to do some investigative work yourself, there are plenty of sites that will do the work for you. The cost of a detailed report varies from site to site, and may be calculated based on the amount of in-depth information you seek. The average detailed bank report will compare your bank to other financial institutions and give you a thorough analysis on whether or not it has sufficient capital, its profitability, how much money it has available, and more.

Keep Yourself Informed

Another way to continually keep an eye on your bank is to stay on top of the latest bank news. You can gather a lot of valuable information from financial news reports, journals, websites, and bank-related blogs. Also, periodically check your bank's website so you're aware of any changes or news that might be relevant to you. You can always cross-check information you find by re-visiting the FDIC site for verification.

To find out what's going on with your current financial institution, it's very easy to slip into the role of an investigator and conduct a bank-background check. There are plenty of online resources to help you find out everything you need to know so that you can either restore your faith in your bank, or find a better place to safeguard your treasure.