SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/AP) -- Washington Mutual branches opened for business as usual Friday, but news of the bank’s collapse and subsequent sale to JPMorgan Chase left customers unsettled, even those who understood they could not lose their deposits.
The flyer distributed at the WaMu SF Embarcadero Branch that announced the bank’s $1.9 billion takeover by JPMorgan Chase read, “Exciting News for Customers” and reassured them that everything would be business as usual.
KCBS' Holly Quan reports
The move makes JPMorgan the nation's second-largest bank. Its mortgage and credit card customers should not see a change in their interest rates for at least six months.
But in the past 10 days, as word of Washington Mutual’s instability because of bad mortgages spread, customers had already fled with $16.7 billion in deposits, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision.
The federal government insures accounts up to $100,000 exactly to avoid that kind of panic. By Friday, emotions had calmed, but the shakiness on Wall Street still left many customers wondering where would be the safest place to store their money.
(jro)
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