LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — News of two banks collapsing– Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York– made headlines over the weekend. Many of us probably thought of what we should do with the money in our banks.
It's also a thought shared by Simmons Bank CEO Bob Fehlman.
"They spent time with customers during the day," Fehlman said. "Just to calm some of those fears."
According to Fehlman, those fears are valid. However, he's not looking at this as an event that could happen everywhere.
"This was a special, niche bank," Fehlman said. " Both of them were... focused on high deposit customers."
What happened to those banks is simple. They saw a "run," meaning too many people withdrew money at once, and the bank couldn't keep up.
Fehlman said peoples' reactions should also be simple.
"Money is safe in the banks," Fehlman said. "It's unsafe bringing it home and putting it under your mattress."
Fehlman isn't the only one urging stability. Chief Operating Officer and President of Frist Arkansas Bank & Trust Mark Wilson also encouraged it.
Wilson said the chances of something like this happening in Arkansas are low because of state regulations.
"It makes you wonder how, what their regulators were doing," Wilson said. "It's like if you see a toddler running out in the street, it makes you wonder what their parents are doing."
Even if this happens, Wilson said your money would be safe.
"The FDIC guarantees the first $250,000 of your deposits," Wilson said. "You don't have to worry about it, even if the bank collapses."
It's scary to think that a bank could just shut down, but Wilson and Fehlman said things are doing fine in Arkansas.
"I think it's specific to those two or three banks that had trouble," Fehlman said. "There may be a couple of other specialized banks, but overall, the banking industry is as strong as it's been in a long time... Asset quality is good, capital is good, and liquidity is good in the banking industry."