---
name: fdic-bankfind-suite-ingestion
description: "How to get FDIC BankFind Suite API and Bulk Data data into a pandas DataFrame and Parquet: access, the request, the format, limits, quirks and terms."
---

# Load active FDIC institutions into pandas and Parquet

Source entry: https://signal-lab-jet.vercel.app/datasets/fdic-bankfind-suite
Provider: https://banks.data.fdic.gov/docs/
Checked against the provider's documentation: 2026-11-01

## Access
- No account or key is currently required for BankFind Suite API queries.
- Institution and location CSV files provide bulk alternatives.

## Request
```bash
curl 'https://banks.data.fdic.gov/api/institutions?filters=ACTIVE%3A1&fields=CERT%2CNAME%2CSTALP%2CASSET%2CDEP%2CRISDATE&limit=100&format=json'
```

## Format
JSON response with metadata, total match count and data records nested under data[].data; selected fields include FDIC certificate number, institution name, state, assets, deposits and report date.

## Load into pandas and Parquet
Needs Python 3 with requests, pandas and pyarrow.
```python
"""Active FDIC institutions -> pandas -> Parquet. No key."""
import requests
import pandas as pd

URL = "https://banks.data.fdic.gov/api/institutions"
params = {
    "filters": "ACTIVE:1",
    "fields": "CERT,NAME,STALP,ASSET,DEP,RISDATE",
    "limit": 100,
    "format": "json",
}
r = requests.get(URL, params=params, timeout=60)
r.raise_for_status()
payload = r.json()
df = pd.DataFrame([row["data"] for row in payload["data"]])
df.to_parquet("fdic_active_institutions.parquet", index=False)
print(len(df), "institutions of", payload["meta"]["total"],
      "matching active institutions; index", payload["meta"]["index"]["name"])
```
Run by us on 2026-11-01 (python 3.13.5 | pandas 3.1.0 | pyarrow 26.0.0 | requests 2.34.2). Result: 100 institutions of 4213 matching active institutions; index institutions_20261030090007

## Limits
- Rate limit: Not stated.
- The example requests 100 records; use the response metadata when paging larger result sets.
- Coverage and reporting dates vary across institutions, financials, locations, history, failures, deposits, summaries and demographics.

## Quirks
- Record fields are nested under each data item, while totals and the backing index timestamp are under meta.
- Asset and deposit values require the endpoint definitions for units and reporting-period interpretation.
- The documentation discusses API keys but explicitly says users are currently not required to register for one.

## Terms and attribution
- The checked FDIC policy page does not assign a standard license to BankFind data.
- FDIC disclaims warranties and responsibility for the accuracy and currency of website information and data.
- Terms page: https://www.fdic.gov/about/policies

## Sources
- https://banks.data.fdic.gov/docs/: "FDIC’s application programming interface (API) lets developers access FDIC’s publicly available bank data."
- https://banks.data.fdic.gov/docs/: "Users are currently not required to register and obtain a unique “key” to use with every query submitted to our API."
- https://banks.data.fdic.gov/docs/: "Data output is available as JSON or CSV."
- https://www.fdic.gov/about/policies: "The FDIC has taken reasonable measures to ensure that the information and data presented on this website is accurate and current."

## Help improve this skill
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Information for educational purposes only. Free tiers, limits and licenses belong to the providers and may change; check the provider's own terms before using the data.