WAMU Deposits
For the past few months we have been having multiple people come in telling us how worried they are about their deposits at Washington Mutual. It seems like these days people are starting to act on these worries. Yesterday we took in about $500,000 in new money that was deposited straight from Washington Mutual. $500,000 doesn’t sound like a ton of money for a financial institution, but if you consider the fact that our size is only $500 million, it puts it in more perspective. This comes out to .1% of our total deposits.
One should also take into consideration that this data is for only one of the 8 branches. If this coincidentally happened at each of our branches, this would have totaled $4 million in new money just from WAMU for the day.
WAMU is insured by the FDIC up to $100,000. If they fail though, you won’t have instant access to your money. It can take the feds up to 3 months to get your money back to you. If you were without your money for three whole months, what would you do? This explains why people are starting to panic more and more about WAMU.
If you find yourself worried about your account at WAMU or another institution, consider moving your funds over to a credit union. Credit unions are typically more conservative in nature than banks, and therefore are a safer bet for your money. Credit Unions are insured by the NCUA, which is similar to the FDIC. The NCUA insures your accounts up to $100,000 as well. If a credit union fails though, the NCUA will have your funds back to you within three days, not three months. Something to consider when looking for a new institution.
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