But over the long term, just how safe are banking dividends? I'll leave out the two bailed-out banks, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland as their dividends have not yet recovered from the banking crisis, and today I'll take a look at Barclays ( LSE: BARC )(NYSE: BCS.US), HSBC Holdings ( LSE: HSBA ), Standard Chartered ( LSE: STAN ) and Banco Santander ( LSE: BNC ).