Foreboding as it initially seemed, the Silicon Valley Bank collapse didn’t lead to the rest of the stock market crashing alongside it. But the run of bank failures undoubtedly shook trust in the broader banking system, and First Republic Bank’s recent implosion – and subsequent sale to JPMorgan Chase – has done little to restore faith in select types of banks. Although regional bank stocks rallied on Monday, after an especially turbulent period last week, they still face challenges ahead.
CivicScience has tracked consumer trust and banking behavior throughout the recent spell of instability, and the latest readings reflect the highest likelihood yet to move funds to a ‘safer/more reputable bank’ (as of this week, 14% now plan to in the next 30 days). Compared to the first time CivicScience reported on this behavior at the end of March, this figure has increased by four percentage points (up from 10%). More adults have already moved funds as well, with that figure hovering around 10% in recent weeks.
Thus far in May, U.S. adults who primarily bank at an online-only bank are the most likely to plan on moving funds (17%) in the next month, followed by those who use national banks (15%). This is also a slight departure from CivicScience’s March data, which revealed the lowest likelihood to move funds from national bank users, so much of the overall change can be attributed to their shift in intent. Regional bank members are currently the second-most likely to have already moved funds (14%) behind online-only banks (21%).
Adults with the least amount of ($0-10K) liquid investable assets in their bank account are the least likely to be plotting a change for their funds in the coming month – but also the second-most likely to have already withdrawn funds and moved them to a ‘safer/more reputable bank.’ Adults with assets exceeding $500K match their low likelihood to change banks (7%) and are among the least likely to have already moved funds. Expect the greatest movement among adults with $25K-100K in assets (18% plan to move funds), with those who have $10K-25K the next most likely to make changes (17%).
But even if they aren’t moving funds, the First Republic Bank failure appears to have had a measurable impact on trust in banks among wealthier Americans. All U.S. adults saw a slight decline in their net trust of banks (difference between those trusting ‘at least somewhat’ and ‘not very much / at all’) from the week before FRB’s collapse to the week after, but those with $250K+ in assets saw a staggering dip in net trust (46.2% to 23.9% – the latter of which was below the Gen Pop’s figure at the same time). Among adults with $250K+ in assets, there is currently a greater percentage who trust banks ‘not very much / at all’ than those who trust them ‘at least somewhat.’
Overall trust levels continue to decline – CivicScience tracking finds trust in banks fell to its lowest level since the SVB collapse over the last week (62% trusting them ‘at least somewhat’). Both plummeting trust in banks and rising concerns over economic consequences mirror the SVB collapse thus far, and the FRB failure looks poised to inspire more shuffling of funds – if not necessarily among the wealthiest Americans just yet.
CivicScience is constantly tracking the latest trends in the banking world – work with us to stay ahead of upcoming developments.
