Wamu

[aurielle]

Today I quietly withdrew 2/3rds of our money out of our checking and savings accounts (the rest has to stay in right now for a couple of different reasons).

Everything was business as usual. Free coffee and donuts. But there was a small stack of letters from the COO trying to reassure customers and another paper with an explanation of how FDIC insurance works on the counter where you fill out your slips.

Tomorrow DH and I are opening new accounts at another bank.

I'm a little nervous because DH and I will have to switch our direct deposits over to the new account next week and I think we're too far into the payroll cycle to get the switchover done before our next paychecks.

Luckily most of our EF is in an online account with a different bank. The nearest branch is a couple hours away but I have an ATM card.

Any other WAMU refugee's out there?

[sundancegt]

Hi,
First post here.
I'm applying for an SBA loan right now through USBank. Though my business account will not be either USBank nor WAMU, the SBA officers recommended that I get my funds out of WAMU ASAP.
So I drew out $75K yesterday and moved it to another bank.

Wondering what to do about the rest of my account there.

[atomicrc11]

I don't know why everyone is panicing so much. I have all my day-to-day accounts with one bank including some EF, and the rest in another. If you have that, don't pull your money out now. All it it doing is making the problem worse for banks. Your money is safe due to FDIC coverage.

[aurielle]

I don't know why everyone is panicing so much. I have all my day-to-day accounts with one bank including some EF, and the rest in another. If you have that, don't pull your money out now. All it it doing is making the problem worse for banks. Your money is safe due to FDIC coverage.

This is our main checking and savings account from which we pay bills. I know we won't lose our money due to FDIC but we don't want to take the chance of having our money inaccessible for days or weeks while they sort things out, and meanwhile we have bills to pay. I'm not going to dip into the EF unless its actually an emergency. We're not closing the accounts, at least not right now and if/when things settle down we may resume using them.

Are you saying that if your bank with your day-to-day accounts, that you rely on to pay bills and buy groceries from was in jeopardy, that you wouldn't be concerned?? Its so easy for you to say that if your bank is one of the safer ones right now. WAMU is much, much bigger than say Indymac bank and it's going to take them alot more time to work through the upheaval if the FDIC has to move in on them. From what I've read, Indymac was closed down on a Friday and up and running again by Monday and most customers experienced seamless service. WAMU is so much bigger I don't see how that can be accomplished quite so quickly or easily. You are not in my shoes and I am doing what I need to to take care of my family.

[FrugalFish]

I have an account with WaMu. Not much in there, but it is our most active account- like yours- and we do depend on it most days.

I'm not pulling out money right now, or setting up accounts elsewhere, BUT I do have a back-up checking account in conjunction with an emergency fund that would suffice if for some reason the WaMu account became unavailable temporarily.

My feeling is that another bank will buy out WaMu and the transition of accounts from the holding of one institution to another will be relatively painless (my WaMu account was originally another bank's, bought out by WaMu- the switch over was barely even noticeable). Hopefully that is what will happen this time, particularly with talk of the gov't taking over the bad loan end of things.

That said, if you don't have a good back up plan in place, then now may not be a bad time to go ahead and switch to a different bank. Do what you have to do to make sure the money you need today is where you can get your hands on it.

[kork13]

My feeling is that another bank will buy out WaMu and the transition of accounts from the holding of one institution to another will be relatively painless (my WaMu account was originally another bank's, bought out by WaMu- the switch over was barely even noticeable).

This is what I see happening as well... Banks don't want to see eachother fail outright, because when one fails, they all hurt (case in point: this week). There have been talks of a sale, WaMu is looking for a buyer. I don't hold accounts there, but I do hope it will be a smooth transition.

[scfr]

We have accounts at WaMu, and we have decided to keep our funds there, because the APY is good and I have faith that the FDIC will be there if needed.

While I'm leaving what funds I have in there put, I have decided to make the accounts "inactive" ... in other words, nothing is going in or out. I am going to change the bank for my direct deposit, and I have stopped writing checks on my WaMu checking account. (Last weekend I had a bit of a sweat over what would happen to the check that was in transit to the IRS if WaMu folded ... That's not something I want to have to dwell on again.)

We have other accounts and other funds available, so if we had to wait a bit to get our funds back, we'd be okay. If WaMu was my only account, I'd either be opening up a second account or closing the WaMu one. I don't fault anyone who feels they must close their account.

Hey ... I bailed on IndyMac about a year before they folded, so it's not like I don't understand the feeling.

But what I really want to know is ... FREE DONUTS??? How do I get free donuts??? My WaMu branch doesn't offer them, and in fact they even stopped offering free coffee. Not fair!

[kork13]

donuts... so that's why wamu is in so much trouble.... they give away free donuts... i want some too.....

[atomicrc11]

If my main bank failed, I have an online account with a savings and checking account that I would use. You say you wouldn't use your emergency fund unless it was an emergency, but isn't your bank failing an emergency? That situation is the whole reason EF's exist. Plus, I would need at least two pay periods to change my direct deposit, so no, I wouldn't worry. I also have a brokerage account I can use as well.

[aurielle]

But what I really want to know is ... FREE DONUTS??? How do I get free donuts??? My WaMu branch doesn't offer them, and in fact they even stopped offering free coffee. Not fair!

They had signs on the doors - "Customer Appreciation Day"

[safari]

This is our main checking and savings account from which we pay bills. I know we won't lose our money due to FDIC but we don't want to take the chance of having our money inaccessible for days or weeks while they sort things out, and meanwhile we have bills to pay. I'm not going to dip into the EF unless its actually an emergency. We're not closing the accounts, at least not right now and if/when things settle down we may resume using them.

Are you saying that if your bank with your day-to-day accounts, that you rely on to pay bills and buy groceries from was in jeopardy, that you wouldn't be concerned?? Its so easy for you to say that if your bank is one of the safer ones right now. WAMU is much, much bigger than say Indymac bank and it's going to take them alot more time to work through the upheaval if the FDIC has to move in on them. From what I've read, Indymac was closed down on a Friday and up and running again by Monday and most customers experienced seamless service. WAMU is so much bigger I don't see how that can be accomplished quite so quickly or easily. You are not in my shoes and I am doing what I need to to take care of my family.

In regards to paying the bills, there is nothing to worry about. No matter what happens to WaMu (it will be either bought by another bank or the government will take over), the checks will still be honored. Just make sure you don't have any money there in excess of the FDIC coverage. The only thing that might inconvenience you is not being able to go to a branch because of the lines of people there, but you can use an ATM for deposits and withdrawals. I don't see any reason to panic. If WaMu does go down, it would only be because lots of people got worried and made a run on the bank.

[asmom]

NetBank failed on Friday morning and by Monday morning, I had online access to my accounts again. I think I was still able to use my ATM card over the weekend as I recall so I was never unable to access my money.

It seems to me that people making a run on the bank will only hasten its downfall. It's very old-fashioned too.

[scfr]

A point of clarification, since I know people are understandably concerned. According to David Barr, spokesperson for the FDIC, if a bank fails and a buyer is not found:

That's more of a disruptive process. If there's not a buyer, then ATM and debit cards will not be active and checks that haven't cleared the system will not clear the system. They'll be returned, stamped "bank closed." If we can't find a buyer, then typically the bank is closed on a Friday and by Monday morning we are mailing checks to the customers for their insured deposits, along with a final statement so they'll be able to reconcile their checkbooks to see which checks haven't cleared. If they have checks that haven't cleared, they'll have to contact those merchants to make other arrangements.

This is why, even tho I am keeping my WaMu account open, I have decided not to write any more checks on my account.

Here is a link to the full David Barr interview, for anyone interested:
What happens when a bank fails?

[minnie1928]

I don't know why everyone is panicing so much. I have all my day-to-day accounts with one bank including some EF, and the rest in another. If you have that, don't pull your money out now. All it it doing is making the problem worse for banks. Your money is safe due to FDIC coverage.

I completely agree 100%

[safari]

A point of clarification, since I know people are understandably concerned. According to David Barr, spokesperson for the FDIC, if a bank fails and a buyer is not found:

That's more of a disruptive process. If there's not a buyer, then ATM and debit cards will not be active and checks that haven't cleared the system will not clear the system. They'll be returned, stamped "bank closed." If we can't find a buyer, then typically the bank is closed on a Friday and by Monday morning we are mailing checks to the customers for their insured deposits, along with a final statement so they'll be able to reconcile their checkbooks to see which checks haven't cleared. If they have checks that haven't cleared, they'll have to contact those merchants to make other arrangements.

This is why, even tho I am keeping my WaMu account open, I have decided not to write any more checks on my account.

Here is a link to the full David Barr interview, for anyone interested:
What happens when a bank fails?

That's interesting. When IndyMac failed and the buyer was not found, the bank was taken over by FDIC and renamed to IndyMac Federal Bank, which continued the business as usual. I guess FDIC has an option on whether they want to close the bank completely or keep it open and look for a buyer.