“Consumers are opting for safety over income when they stash their money in the banks. That means picking savings or checking accounts at FDIC-insured banks.”
That’s a pretty simple, but very accurate insight from a BusinessWeek story about the rise of deposits in America’s banks.
What it comes down to is that right now, especially considering the uncertainty in the job and housing markets, consumers clearly prefer no-risky accounts over even slightly risky investments, even if that means their money is slowly losing its value in a standard bank account.