How to know if a new bank is safe

Last month, Grandpoint Bank opened up in Los Angeles. Haven't heard of it? Don't worry -- just about nobody has. When it opened late last month, it was a brand-spanking new bank.

Well, basically new. It used to be the Santa Ana Business Bank, purchased last January by a company called Grandpoint Capital Inc., and now the bank is Grandpoint Bank. At least the name is new, at any rate.

But that got us to wondering: In the unlikely event that you find a new bank in your neighborhood -- or a practically new, or even new to you bank -- what should you do to make sure that bank is safe for you to put your money in?

I approached a few prominent banking experts to get their tips, and here's what they had to say:

If a bank is new, it's probably the safest bank out there. Derek Cunningham, managing director of Commerce Street Capital's bank development team, noted that if a new bank comes into being, it's done so after jumping over so many hurdles that you can be assured it's safe. "Of the 15 to 20 banks that opened in 2009," says Cunningham, "it literally took an act of Congress, prayers, luck, and the perfect board and CEO to get a charter last year."