Choosing a bank is one of the earliest and most important financial decisions many people make, and a bank’s reputation has become tied to transparency and reliability. While confidence in traditional banks remains strong, there’s growing attention on financial products powered by stablecoins.
Analyzing the 50 largest banks in America by asset size, we measured search interest across banking terms related to banking reliability, security, and account benefits for each institution to identify which institutions generate the most customer search behavior.
Regional Institutions are Among the Banks Americans Research Most for Benefits and Security
Image 1: Shows a map of the most searched banks in each state across the country, with location pins denoting which bank is researched most in each state, above a legend with details on each bank.
1. First Horizon Bank
The bank Americans are researching the most for benefits and security is First Horizon Bank. This is driven by strong regional interest among residents in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Much of the high search volume is tied to queries related to fraud protection and account benefits. This suggests elevated engagement with these specific bank features rather than overall brand visibility, with the geographic prominence showing that regional familiarity plays a role in search behavior for First Horizon Bank.
2. First Citizens Bank
First Citizens Bank, one of the largest family-owned banks in the country, ranks as the second bank Americans research the most. Search behavior is largely distributed across bonus and benefits-related queries, suggesting interest in account incentives rather than just general brand discovery. The bank shows high engagement levels with residents in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, and Washington.
3. East West Bank
With high search activity in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, East West Bank ranks as the third most researched bank by Americans. As a leader in connecting individuals in the U.S. and Asia, Americans’ search behaviors are distributed across fraud protection and benefits-related queries, indicating consistent engagement across the bank’s features.
4. BMO Bank
BMO Bank is the fourth bank Americans research most for benefits and security, with residents in Delaware, Maine, Nebraska, and South Dakota researching its benefits and security structures the most. The data reflects a targeted interest in specific banking features, particularly those related to the bank’s security.
5. JPMorgan Chase
Leading search interest in Arkansas, Hawaii, and New Hampshire is JPMorgan Chase as the fifth most researched bank. Its search volume is more evenly distributed across all four query types (bank benefits, fraud protection, transfers, and bonus offers), signaling search activity is less driven by a single feature category and more reflective of general information-seeking across banking topics.
What the Data Shows About Banking Search Behavior
Altogether, the data highlights which institutions generate the most search engagement, rather than reflecting overall popularity or customer preference. These search patterns indicate where consumers are actively seeking more info about specific banking features across fraud protection, benefits, transfers, and promotional offers, signaling these are some of the primary factors Americans prioritize when researching their banking options.
Methodology
To identify the most searched banks in each state, we analyzed search interest for four engagement-related banking terms across 50 of the largest commercial banks in the country, based on asset-size data from the Federal Reserve. These institutions were selected because they collectively serve a significant share of U.S. banking customers and maintain the broadest regional and national presence. While not exhaustive of every financial institution in the country, this sample provides a representative overview of consumer search behavior across the most widely used banks in the country, allowing for a more consistent comparison of consumer search behavior.
For each bank, we compiled monthly search volume data across all 50 states using KeywordTool for keywords associated with banking reliability, security, and account benefits:
“[Bank Name] benefits”
”[Bank Name] fraud protection”
“[Bank Name] easy transfers”
“[Bank Name] bonus offers”
For each state, the search volumes across all four terms were summed to produce a single combined score per bank. The bank with the highest combined score in a given state was designated the most-searched bank in that state. National rankings were then determined by the number of states in which each bank achieved the highest combined score. Where two banks led in an equal number of states, the bank with the higher average combined score across those states was ranked higher.
As a worked example: In Tennessee, we summed the monthly search volumes for First Horizon Bank across all four terms:
“First Horizon Bank benefits": 2,140
"First Horizon Bank fraud protection": 810
"First Horizon Bank easy transfers": 460
"First Horizon Bank bonus offers": 340
Combined score: 3,750
The next-highest bank in Tennessee, Regions Bank, scored a combined 2,560. Because First Horizon Bank's combined score was the highest, it was designated the most-searched bank in that state.
Data is accurate as of March 10th, 2026.
Note: Larger national banks like JPMorgan Chase may generate lower search volumes for specific informational searches because their features are widely recognized. This study reflects search behavior around specific terms, not overall customer volume or market share. Additionally, per-capita normalizations give each state an equal weight regardless of its total population to identify fair search volumes.
