A new survey by Gallup reveals that nearly half of Americans are anxious about the safety of their bank deposits as instability within the industry develops.
According to the results, 48% of those surveyed said they are worried about the funds they keep in banks or other financial institutions.
Of those who said they were worried about their deposits, 19% said they are “very worried” while 29% said they are “moderately worried.”
The other half of the participants doesn’t appear as concerned with 30% of those surveyed said they are “not too worried” while 20% responded with “not worried at all.”
The poll was conducted between April 3rd to 25th after the high-profile collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The downfall of First Republic, the next major US bank to fail, came after the poll was completed, according to the survey.
The results were found to be similar to a poll conducted during the 2008 banking crisis.
“After several recent high-profile bank failures in the U.S., about half of Americans are concerned about the safety of the money they have in banks or other financial institutions. This is on par with the level of worry measured during the financial crisis in 2008 when financial institutions previously believed to be ‘too big to fail’ collapsed.”
However, the survey notes that it’s unclear whether Americans are worried about their personal accounts because they are unaware that up to $250,000 of their funds are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or because the bank failures signal a weakness within the industry that could lead to the downfall of the FDIC itself.
“When banks fail, it is also unclear whether Americans’ heightened concern about their own deposits reflects a lack of awareness of the protections for small accounts provided by [the FDIC] or their fear of a snowball effect that could bring down federal insurance as well.”
