Even before he heard Washington Mutual appeared headed for sale, Skip Holling was walking out of a downtown Seattle branch Wednesday, feeling relieved. He had just closed his business account of three years.
"I'd rather have cash on me than trust WaMu's credit cards," said Holling, who lives in Federal Way and owns a property management firm. "I don't feel safe banking here."
Holling didn't care that his account had been insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a reflection of the anxiety surging among some of WaMu's millions of customers over the institution's downward spiral. Outside the branch at Second Avenue and Union Street, a man and a woman discussed whether their money was safer in the bank or under their mattress
It was a toss-up, they decided, so they closed out their account Wednesday. They said they found little comfort in the federal government's deposit insurance and referred to the Great Depression.
"That doesn't mean anything if (the government) doesn't have the money to pay," said the woman, who declined to be identified.
Holling said he didn't trust he'd be able to access his money through FDIC. Scott Newton, another WaMu customer, also held the deposit insurance in little regard.
"It makes me very, very nervous," said Newton, a WaMu customer of 10 years. "It scares you at night."
A line crewman for King County, Newton had stopped at the branch for some cash Wednesday, but planned soon to close his five accounts, cash out his two CDs, and take his money to a credit union.
"I feel let down by WaMu," he said. The bank had helped him buy two homes and a car, and he had been angry to learn about its financial woes through a co-worker, and not the bank itself.
Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a spokeswoman for WaMu, said bondholders and depositors should feel secure -- and should talk to a branch worker if they're feeling nervous.
"Their money is safe," she said. "We are FDIC-insured. Our branch staff is well-trained in talking about FDIC insurance. A lot of this stuff out here is just panic."
Although WaMu's stock price has plummeted, she said the institution's "aggressive capital-raising" and recent balance sheet actions have insulated customers big and small.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/379547_customers18.html
