Only about 1 in 10 (9%) American adults say they don’t believe their money is “safe” in their bank account. The vast majority (74%) believe their money is safe in their bank, with 17% unsure, according to a recent survey conducted by Finder.
However, the recent collapses of Silicon Valley, Signature and First Republic Bank may be leading to a drop in trust. Over half (52%) of those who don’t believe their money is safe say their views on the matter changed in the last 12 months.
More than three-quarters of men (78%) trust their money is safe with their bank, 8 percentage points higher than women at 70%. However, of those who don’t believe their money is safe in banks, men also lead the pack at 10%, compared to women at 8%.
Over the last 12 months, women are less likely to have changed their opinion on whether their money is safe, with less than a third (29%) changing their minds compared to 42% of men.
However, there is a wide gap between the sexes on whether they believe their money is safe in their account.
Of the women who said their money was safe, just 23% also said they had changed their view on the matter in the last 12 months — less than half of the women (51%) who said they don’t trust their money is safe.
It’s a similar story with men, though not as pronounced, with 40% of those who trust their money is safe saying they’ve changed their opinion in the last 12 months compared to 51% who don’t think their money is safe.
Women vs. men: Is your money safe, and have you changed your views in the last 12 months?
Women
Men
Gen Z losing the most trust in banks
Young Americans are far more distrustful of banks than their elders, with just 61% of Gen Z saying their money is safe in their bank compared to 84% of baby boomers. Almost 1 in 5 (17%) Gen Z say they don’t believe their money is safe compared to just 3% of boomers.
The south has the least trust in banks
Those living in the South and West are the most distrustful, with 11% saying they don’t think their money is safe.
Those earning under $100,000 (11%) are almost twice as likely to say they don’t trust their money is safe than those earning over $100,00 (6%).
Deeper dive into growing distrust
Those who get at least some financial advice from social media were the most likely to distrust banks at 14%. Just 6% of those who got their advice from a traditional adviser said the same.
While those who said they got their financial advice from traditional media are most likely to say their money is safe at 83%.
Those who got advice from social media (14%) were twice as likely as those who didn’t (7%) to say their money was not safe in their bank.
We asked respondents our respondents how much of their money was protected when a bank failed, which is set at $250,000 per account by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). About two-thirds (65%) said they did know.
Those who said they didn’t know how much of their money was protected were more than twice as likely to believe their funds weren’t safe, 15% compared to 6%.
Roughly 1 in 10 (10%) of those who changed their spending habits say they don’t trust their money is safe in the bank compared to 5% of those who haven’t changed how they are spending.
Similarly, those who think a recession is coming in the next 12 months (9%) are almost twice as likely as those who think a recession is unlikely (5%) to say their money is not safe in the bank.
It may seem counterintuitive, but those who are currently invested in cryptocurrencies are the most likely to say their money is safe in the bank at 81%.
Those with poor credit scores (15%) are three times more likely than those with excellent credit (5%) to lack faith in their money’s safety.
Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index is a nationally representative survey polling more than 6,000 Americans about household finances since October 2022. The April data is based on an online survey of 2,113 US adults commissioned by Finder and conducted by Qualtrics/SAP between April 11-20, 2023, with representative quotas for sex and age. We assume the 2,113 participants in our survey represent the US population of 259.2 million Americans who are at least 18 years old, according to the July 2022 US Census Bureau population estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error. Our survey asked people if they believe their money is “safe” in their bank and if their views on that had changed in the last 12 months. We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines, though we’ve combined baby boomers and the Silent Generation into a single group for sampling ease:
Gen Z — any adults born post-1997
Millennials — 1981–1996
Gen X — 1965–1980
Baby boomers — anyone born pre-1964
We define geographical regions as defined by the US Census Bureau.
Hide
Sign up for the Finder newsletter
We know what the best deals in personal finance on the market are at all times, and now you will too.
Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based senior content marketing manager & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU).
SoFi and Capital One are both good picks for different reasons. SoFi is best for everyday banking, but Capital One has more account options and branches.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
