FDIC API Python Wrapper

N/A · active · verified Tue Mar 17

Python wrapper for the FDIC BankFind Suite API, providing access to FDIC banking data including institution details, financial reports, history, failures, and summary statistics. Simplifies querying the public FDIC REST API with Pythonic interfaces.

Warnings

gotcha The pip package name uses a hyphen (fdic-api) but the Python import uses an underscore (fdic_api).
Fix: Use 'from fdic_api import InstitutionsQuery' not 'from fdic-api import ...' or 'from fdic import ...'.
gotcha The FDIC API has rate limits and may return 429 errors if too many requests are made in quick succession. The library does not implement automatic retry or backoff.
Fix: Implement your own retry logic with exponential backoff, or add delays between requests using time.sleep().
gotcha Filter syntax uses the FDIC API's own query language, not Python expressions. String values in filters must be wrapped in escaped double quotes.
Fix: Use query.filter('STNAME:"California"') with escaped double quotes around string values.
gotcha Results are returned as a list of dictionaries with nested 'data' keys, not flat dictionaries.
Fix: Access fields via result['data']['FIELD_NAME'] not result['FIELD_NAME'].
gotcha The default limit on results is small. If you need all matching records, you must handle pagination manually or set a higher limit.
Fix: Use query.limit(10000) for larger result sets or implement pagination with query.offset().

Install

pip install requests HTTP client (no official PyPI package)

Imports

InstitutionsQuery
```
from fdic_api import InstitutionsQuery
```
The import package name is fdic_api (underscore), not fdic.
FinancialsQuery
```
from fdic_api import FinancialsQuery
```
Used for querying financial report data from the FDIC API.
HistoryQuery
```
from fdic_api import HistoryQuery
```
Used for querying institutional history events.
FailuresQuery
```
from fdic_api import FailuresQuery
```
Used for querying FDIC bank failure records.
SummaryQuery
```
from fdic_api import SummaryQuery
```
Used for querying aggregate summary statistics.

Quickstart

Query FDIC for banks in California. No authentication required.

import requests

# No API key required - FDIC API is public
resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.fdic.gov/banks/institutions",
    params={"filters": "STNAME:California", "limit": 5, "fields": "NAME,CITY,STNAME,ASSET"}
)
resp.raise_for_status()
data = resp.json()
for inst in data["data"]:
    print(f"{inst['data']['NAME']} - {inst['data']['CITY']}, {inst['data']['STNAME']}")

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