Sunflower Bank

Sunflower Bank and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) are concerned with numerous media reports and speculation prompting unfounded concerns about the safety of bank deposits.

Federal deposit insurance guarantees your deposits are safe in every financial institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, including community banks, and including Sunflower Bank. Don’t believe the myths, and see the FAQ below for the facts.

Myth: Your money is safer in big banks.

Fact: No one has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured deposits held in community banks. The FDIC insures deposits up to $100,000 per depositor and $250,000 for certain retirement accounts. If you have more than $100,000 at a community bank, you can still be fully insured if your accounts meet certain requirements. For example, accounts owned by a single person are separately insured from joint accounts or retirement accounts owned by that person. The FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator can determine your coverage.

Like Sunflower Bank, community banks focus on the needs of local families, businesses and farmers, with lenders, presidents and managers available within a phone call to answer your questions directly and make timely decisions. Many of the nation’s largest banks are structured to serve large corporations and have CEOs and presidents headquartered in office suites – not local banks.

Myth: Your money is stored in a vault at the bank.

Fact: Community bank deposits are reinvested in your local economy. Your deposits are safe and sound and insured. However, deposits allow banks to make loans in the community. Whether that’s helping your neighbors start a nearby business, purchase a home, or send a son or daughter to college, Sunflower Bank invests in your community. Continuing to hold deposits in community banks ensures the neighborhoods where you live and work will continue to grow and thrive.

Myth: Community banks are in trouble, like certain big banks in the news.

Fact: The vast majority of our nation’s banks, especially community banks, are strong, safe and stable. Community bankers are common-sense lenders who don’t engage in high-risk activities. Instead, we stick to the long-standing fundamentals of responsible banking, and always seek to serve the long-term interests of customers and communities.

Myth: The FDIC takeover of IndyMac Bancorp means my bank is at risk.

Fact: As stated by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, IndyMac is only one of nearly 8,500 depository institutions operating in the United States and represents just 0.2 percent of banking-industry assets. There is little chance your bank will be taken over by the FDIC, and no chance Sunflower Bank will be taken over. However, with FDIC insurance, IndyMac customers continue to have virtually uninterrupted access to insured deposits – and the same holds true for any FDIC takeover.

Myth: Community banks are involved in problems with subprime mortgage lending

Fact: Community banks are common-sense lenders who have avoided subprime lending. As an institution, Sunflower Bank did not engage in any subprime lending practices. As a result, community banks do not face a mortgage-lending crisis; community banks are well-run, highly-capitalized, tightly-regulated and more risk-averse than big banks. Community banks have money to lend homeowners for new purchases and to refinance existing mortgages. In spite of talk of a credit crunch, community banks are open for business.

More questions about deposit insurance or community banking?

Email us or give us a call at 1-888-827-5564.

Source: ICBA Media Center