Lubbock banker reassures local depositors their money is safe, after SVB collapse

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A Lubbock banker says depositors should rest easy if they keep their money locally, after the failure of two large banks over the weekend. The dust is settling, so to speak, after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York, the second and third-largest failures in history.

The volatile situation is why the President and CEO at the American Bank of Commerce says customers should feel confident if they do business in Lubbock.

“If this isn’t a validation as to why you should bank locally, I’m not really sure what is,” he said.

Arnold says he’s fielded phone calls all weekend after the large banks collapsed, with customers questioning the state of the bank, the economy, and what the fallout means for them.

He says the business model is different at most, if not all, community banks here in Lubbock, compared to those larger banks.

“We monitor risk every single day. We have accounts here, we’re customers of our own bank, and so, that’s why local is so important, that you bank local so you know your banker and you know they’re monitoring risk every single day and not getting caught up in the latest sexy fad. Whether it’s cryptocurrency or VC startups, we back our local customers that do business here in Lubbock,” Arnold said.

He says Silicon Valley Bank, a California-based tech start-up lender that serves small business owners, didn’t take risk into the equation until it was too late.

“Whether you’re a loan customer or a deposit customer at your bank, call your local banker. It’s very important that you hear from them how things are going. That’s why you bank locally. You bank with people you know, so you can pick up the phone and call people and talk about your account and about your bank,” he said.

Now, Arnold says every banker in town is watching to see what the Federal Reserve will do at its next meeting regarding interest rates.

“I don’t know where they’re going to go with this. It’s hard to predict. I would hope they would pause and let’s see how this plays out. Let’s let them, let’s let all this volatility kind of settle down a little bit. But, you know, I can’t speak for the Fed of what they’re going to do.”

Arnold says he believes what President Biden said Monday morning - deposits are safe.

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