U.S. Depositors Park Billions Outside Of Banks

Across the country, millions of Americans are trying to figure out how to best allocate their money following the implosion of two US banks and the emergency takeover of European banking giant Credit Suisse last weekend, which set off fears of a global financial crisis, Abha Bhattarai reported for Washington Post.

Photo Insert: Americans are moving hundreds of billions of dollars out of banks - especially smaller, regional banks - into larger institutions.

The crisis so far doesn't seem to have come, and the government has taken great pains to reassure depositors that bank accounts are safe. But that hasn't stopped people from shifting their money around.

Americans are moving hundreds of billions of dollars out of banks - especially smaller, regional banks - into larger institutions, as well as money market funds, government bonds, high-yield online savings accounts, even cryptocurrencies and gold.

In the two weeks since SVB's dramatic collapse, investments in money market funds, a type of mutual fund focused on low-risk securities, have ballooned by nearly $240 billion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Yields on 2-year Treasury bonds have fallen 24 percent as a result of booming demand. Money market funds are not insured by the government the way bank accounts less than $250,000 are.

But even riskier investments are thriving, too: Bitcoin prices have risen 40 percent, and gold is up about 10 percent.

Overall, an estimated $550 billion in deposits have moved from smaller and regional banks to large banks and money market funds in the past two weeks, according to an analysis by JPMorgan, Jeff Stein also reported for Washington Post.

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