DepositAccounts.com (formerly BankDeals) writes "The Best Bank Ratings Services and Why You Should Care about the Financial Health of Your Bank". The blog says, "If you keep under the standard deposit insurance limit, you should not have to worry about losing your money if your federally insured bank or credit union fails. So why should depositors who keep under this limit care about the financial health of their banks? There are in fact several reasons." The piece says, "If a bank fails and the FDIC can't find a buyer, it'll send depositors checks for the insured principal and accrued interest. This takes at least a week.... If you have a checking account at a failed bank and there are no acquirers, and the FDIC does a pay-out of your insured deposit balance, your outstanding checks to vendors will all be returned.... Brokered CDs of a failed bank can take three or more weeks before funds reach your brokerage account.... When a bank fails, it's common that existing CDs will either be closed or the rate will be lowered.... FDIC now has rate caps for less than well capitalized banks." See also, Bond Buyer's "New VRDO Provisions Raise Concern".
