Regional banks have been failing — here are 3 national banks where your savings are secure and you'll earn high rates (2024)

FAQs

What are the three regional banks failures? ›

The unexpected collapses of three banks - Silicon Valley and Signature in March 2023 and First Republic in May - put a spotlight on how lenders managed risks to assets and liquidity as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates aggressively to bring surging inflation under control.

Signature Bank, First Republic Bank follow suit

The US experienced the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual Bank's bankruptcy in 2008, and the collapse of SVB was followed by Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.

Bottom line. For the most part, if you keep your money at an institution that's FDIC-insured, your money is safe — at least up to $250,000 in accounts at the failing institution. You're guaranteed that $250,000, and if the bank is acquired, even amounts over the limit may be smoothly transferred to the new bank.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects depositors from losing money when these events take place. Banks fund the operation through fees, meaning depositors don't have to pay separately or sign up for it.

Republic First Bank reported unrealized securities losses in excess of its equity as early as June 2022. State regulators closed Republic First Bank in April 2024, marking the first bank failure of the year.

The collapses of First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were the second-, third- and fourth-largest bank failures in the history of the United States, respectively, smaller only than the collapse of Washington Mutual during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.

The decline in commercial real estate valuations led to worries about whether some regional banks would see higher default rates from borrowers in the commercial real estate sector, and thereby incur greater losses. Second, in order to fight off inflation, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates aggressively.

Despite overcoming a crisis in 2023, the pain isn't over for America's regional banks. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking exchange-traded fund has fallen roughly 13% this year. Shares of New York Community Bank have tumbled 71%, Bank OZK shares have slid 16% and Webster Financial shares have lost 11%.

The short answer is no. Banks cannot take your money without your permission, at least not legally. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposits up to $250,000 per account holder, per bank. If the bank fails, you will return your money to the insured limit.

Can banks seize your savings? ›

Banks can take money from your checking account, savings accounts, and CDs when you owe the same bank money on loans. This is called the "right to offset." Banks will typically seize money from your accounts when you're behind on loan payments and not working with them to repay the debt.

FDIC deposit insurance protects your money in deposit accounts at FDIC-insured banks in the event of a bank failure. Since the FDIC was founded in 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds.

The safest place to put your retirement funds is in low-risk investments and savings options with guaranteed growth. Low-risk investments and savings options include fixed annuities, savings accounts, CDs, treasury securities, and money market accounts. Of these, fixed annuities usually provide the best interest rates.

JPMorgan Chase, the financial institution that owns Chase Bank, topped our experts' list because it's designated as the world's most systemically important bank on the 2023 G-SIB list. This designation means it has the highest loss absorbency requirements of any bank, providing more protection against financial crisis.

RBI continues to classify SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank in the category of D-SIBs. But, what are D-SIBs? These are the banks which are so important for the country's economy that the government cannot afford their collapse. Hence, D-SIBs are thought of as “Too Big to Fail” (TBTF) organisations.

However, a key factor that has contributed to the extent and speed of the crisis is the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy actions, including the elimination of reserve requirements in 2020, which resulted in a surge in demand deposits, and led to banks taking excessive risks.

Even more recently were the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in 2023. These niche banks with large amounts of uninsured deposits have led federal regulators to look at additional regulatory practices to help keep financial systems stable.

The largest bank failure ever occurred when Washington Mutual Bank went under in 2008. At the time, it had about $307 billion in assets. During the uncertainty of the banking crisis, however, Washington Mutual experienced a bank run where customers withdrew almost $17 billion in assets in less than 10 days.