Net worth is assets minus liabilities. Starting point: You: Assets=$100, liabilities=$0 Bank: Assets=$0, liabilities=$0 You now deposit the money: You: Ass

Net worth is assets minus liabilities. Starting point: You: Assets=$100, liabilities=$0 Bank: Assets=$0, liabilities=$0 You now deposit the money: You: Assets=$100 (money they owe you), liabilities=$0 Bank: Assets=$100 (cash in vault), liabilities=$100 (money they owe you) Which is to say, the number in their database is money they owe you, which cancels out the cash in their vault. So bank's net worth is still 0.