To check a U.S. bank’s charter, look up its exact legal name in the OCC’s active institution lists and confirm it in the FDIC’s BankFind Suite. In BankFind, open the institution’s details and read Bank Charter Class and Primary Federal Regulator. These fields identify the charter and federal oversight; check FDIC-insured status separately.
Look up the exact legal institution
Start with the bank’s full legal name and its city and state. A consumer-facing brand may not be the legal name of the bank that holds an account, and a similarly named institution may be a different entity. Match the location and, where available, the institution’s identifiers before treating a result as the bank you mean.
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The relevant entity is the bank itself—not necessarily its holding company, a fintech brand, or a partner named in an app or service.
Check the OCC and FDIC records
- Search the OCC. Use the OCC Financial Institution Search by institution name or charter number, or check the OCC’s active lists of national banks and federal savings associations. The OCC says it charters and regulates both types. Search results in the Financial Institution Search cover specified OCC records, so consult the active lists for a direct check of current OCC-supervised institutions.
- Open the FDIC record. Search the institution in BankFind Suite and select “View Details.” Confirm the legal name and location, then read Bank Charter Class and Primary Federal Regulator. BankFind also displays institution identifiers, which can help distinguish banks with similar names.
- Check insurance separately. In BankFind, inspect the institution’s FDIC-insured status if your question concerns deposit insurance. Charter class and insurance status are separate facts; one does not establish the other.
The OCC specifically recommends BankFind as the way to determine whether an institution is a federal savings association. Its guidance also notes that FDIC BankFind can be used to confirm whether an institution is insured.
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Interpret the charter and regulator fields
A federally chartered institution is generally a national bank or a federal savings association. The OCC is the primary federal regulator for both. State-chartered institutions are overseen by a state banking regulator and also have a primary federal regulator, which depends on the institution’s status.
| Bank Charter Class or status | Primary federal oversight | What the result means |
|---|---|---|
| National bank | OCC | Federally chartered under the National Bank Act. |
| Federal savings association | OCC | Federally chartered under the Home Owners’ Loan Act. |
| State-chartered bank that is not a Federal Reserve member | FDIC, as well as the state regulator | State charter; FDIC is the primary federal regulator described in OCC guidance. |
| State-chartered bank that is a Federal Reserve member | Federal Reserve, as well as the state regulator | State charter; the Federal Reserve is the primary federal regulator described in OCC guidance. |
| State-chartered savings association | FDIC, as well as the state regulator | State charter; FDIC is the primary federal regulator described in OCC guidance. |
So “state chartered” does not mean “no federal regulator.” Use BankFind’s charter class to answer whether the institution is federally or state chartered, and its primary federal regulator field to see which federal agency has the primary oversight role.
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Use the bank’s name only as a clue
“National” in a bank’s legal title, or a designation such as “National Association” or “N.A.,” can indicate national-bank status. It is not a substitute for checking the official record. Federal savings associations are not required to include a charter identifier in their legal name, so a name-only search may not reveal their status.
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Banks can merge, change names, or convert charters. For a published claim or a record you need to preserve, note the date you checked and retain the exact legal name and identifiers shown. OCC active lists and BankFind records are updated over time; the OCC’s active-list page showed a list dated 2026-08-31, while the FDIC example records cited in its materials were dated 2026-10-02. Those dates describe those records, not a guarantee that a particular institution’s status will remain unchanged.
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