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Ask HN: What US bank post-SVB would you recommend?
Given recent developments, Ask: what US bank post-SVB would you recommend, for USD, EUR and GBP checkings?
- JumpCrisscross 4y agoTwo. One that you like, and one with a AAA credit rating.
- nabla9 4y agoC. Hoare & Co. https://www.hoaresbank.co.uk/ https://www.hoaresbank.co.uk/ is the one if you need stability and quality, no question. If you are worried about bank runs you can divide your deposits into $250,000 chunks and divide it between banks. (or whatever the insured amount in your country is)
- anovikov 4y agoExcept this insurance never applies to business accounts.
- matthewmacleod 4y agoFDIC insurance covers business accounts up to $250k per institution. The FSCS scheme in the UK covers business accounts up to £85k per institution. Where are you getting this idea from?
- teej 4y agoThis is not true for FDIC.
- nabla9 4y ago(in the US) FDIC insurance treats business accounts the same as personal accounts. Bank accounts for corporations, partnerships, and unincorporated associations get the full $250k in FDIC coverage, separate from any owner or member of the organization. (in the EU) the sum is $100,000 and also applies to companies.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- thallium205 4y agoOP asked for a U.S. bank. A foreign bank is probably not the best suggestion.
- op00to 4y agoI clicked on your link, and some dude in a super fancy suit just barged into my house and took the money out of my wallet. That firm exudes the sickly sweet aroma of the hanger-on class.
- sschueller 4y agoIf you are in Switzerland and you want a deposit over 100k to be safe put it in a Kantonalbank which is backed by the Kanton if it fails to meet its obligations. However there are some Kantons that don't do this so check first. One of the ones considered to be the safest is the zkb in Zürich.
- chrischattin 4y agoIronically, SVB, or whatever its new name will be. Like how the safest airline to fly is the one who just had an accident.
- teej 4y agoSVB no longer exists.
- welder 4y agoWill it be as easy to open an account for foreign entrepreneurs as before? I'm not foreign, just heard that's why some people used SVB because the others won't even open an account for them.
- TMWNN 4y agoI think there's some evidence that SVB UK might have been even more entrepreneur-friendly (compared to its peers) than its US parent. "Silicon Valley Bank collapse: UK tech firms at 'serious risk' from failure, warns Chancellor Jeremy Hunt" <https://news.sky.com/story/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-uk-working-at-pace-to-minimise-damage-says-chancellor-12831894 https://news.sky.com/story/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-uk-w...>, which is much more serious than anything Janet Yellen has said.
- hbbio 4y agoMH370 + MH17
- 4y ago
- welder 4y ago[flagged]
- kzrdude 4y agoI don't know, why do you recommend that one? It also says it's not a bank, so it's not a bank.
- welder 4y agoIt's a bank wrapper, but your money is in a real bank (Evolve bank). [0] I recommend them because: * $1M FDIC insurance for your cash [1] * Business banking features I use work great (paying vendors, receiving wires) [0] https://mercury.com/how-mercury-works https://mercury.com/how-mercury-works [1] https://mercury.com/security https://mercury.com/security
- amelius 4y agoPut your eggs in multiple baskets.
- amelius 4y agoAt this point, keep your money under your mattress.
- mittermayr 4y agoI'd say this will make it hard to exist online, but then I remembered that at least Mullvad accepts cash payment by postal envelope ;)
- thallium205 4y agoCan your mattress run payroll and invoicing?
- amelius 4y agoNo, but it allows me access to my money, which is infinitely better.
- thallium205 4y agoRolling around in your own money is better than paying your employees?
- amelius 4y agoRolling around in money is better than not even having money to pay employees.
- giaour 4y ago> Can your mattress run payroll If your employees will accept an envelope filled with sweaty bills instead of a check or direct deposit, then sure.
- chewz 4y agoJP Morgan - it's shares went up 2,5 pct. on Friday.. Good liquidity...
- bank-error 4y agoWe will see who is liquid after Monday and then Wednesday of next week.
- guipsp 4y agoI think it is insane to think that JPMC will go insolvent, or will be allowed to
- ulfw 4y agoJP Morgan or Citibank but not sure if they do multi-currency in the US. I bet HSBC US does but they're only taking on Premier customers.
- bradleyjg 4y agoA systematically important bank. They are subject to the most regulation (small, regional, and credit unions lobbied for looser rules) and have an implicit government backstop. The top 3 are JPM-Chase, BoA, and Citi.
- bank-error 4y ago[flagged]
- yunohn 4y ago> None of these banks will accept a risky startup placing assets They won’t let you deposit money? Why?
- biztos 4y agoWhat does “placing assets” mean here? If I walk in to Citi and say “I have ten million bucks and will need to withdraw them half a million per month” are they really not going to take my deposit? I get that they might not want to loan me money, but the SVB problem everyone’s worried about is losing their deposits, or do I have that wrong?
- oefrha 4y ago> If I walk in to Citi and say “I have ten million bucks and will need to withdraw them half a million per month” are they really not going to take my deposit? They will take your deposit, and the banker will even get a nice fat bonus for bringing in big cash deposits (well maybe not a fat one for a meager $10m). Gp doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
- oefrha 4y agoMaybe instead of avoiding questions in replies and adding an “Edit” merely to trade insults, you can educate us on why JPM Chase won’t accept cash deposits from startups, and we can learn something. However I’m not holding my breath for insights when startup cash deposits and subprime mortgages are “similar” “bad risks” to you. They have no similarity at all. Just for the record JPM Chase absolutely does bank startups. https://www.jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/startups https://www.jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/startups
- gibsonf1 4y agoDoes anyone have experience with https://www.brex.com/ https://www.brex.com/ ?
- kparjaszewski 4y agoThey require $400k MRR, $1M in VC funding and 50+ employees so we still need to mature a bit
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Maro 4y agoIf you store large amounts of money, I would recommend that you have (i) multiple accounts, and (ii) make sure the account-to-account transfer links are set up, and you've tried them, potentially with large sum xfers. Kindof like making sure you have backups and they work.
- kuczmama 4y agoIs there a bank you can pay to have a 1:1 backing? Essentially a vault that can do Wires, ACH, Checking, etc, but for a fee?
- welder 4y agoPosting as top-level comment because my original post was downvoted a ton for some reason: I like https://mercury.com https://mercury.com and have been using them for a few years. It's a bank wrapper, but your money is in a real bank (Evolve bank). [0] I recommend them because: * $1M FDIC insurance for your cash [1] * Business banking features I use work great (paying vendors, receiving wires) [0] https://mercury.com/how-mercury-works https://mercury.com/how-mercury-works [1] https://mercury.com/security https://mercury.com/security
- Dave_TRS 4y agoI love Mercury. Their interface is dream, a world apart from TD, Chase, BofA etc. Merucry is online-only so nothing requires a branch, ever. Wires are free and take 1 min to initiate. I don't have more than $1M in the bank but if I wanted FDIC insurance or a large institution guarantee I'd just put the excess somewhere and do 1-2 transfers a year between them.
- sverhagen 4y agoI've heard spotty results about Evolve's responsiveness to customers, and while there may be a wrapper, that's not always who you talk to, and certainly not who is setting the rules you have to abide by.
- AkshatJ27 4y agoYour original post was probably downvoted because of the referral link.
- welder 4y agoWhy? It's $100 for you and nothing for me, I think. Here's what I see on that page: https://wakatime.com/static/img/ScreenShots/Screenshot%202023-03-12%20at%201.13.15%20PM.png https://wakatime.com/static/img/ScreenShots/Screenshot%20202... Edit: Now I notice the "Referral payout" column. I guess that means I get something too, but I didn't think that was the case when posting the link originally.
- 4y ago
- jmclnx 4y agoSeems a lot of people are recommending large banks. That was one of the "fears" I read somewhere this SCB failure will give these big banks more "power". But, I also saw SVB was the 16th largest bank in the US. So going to a big bank mat not be good. Me, I would look into local banks and do some hard work "research" and pick one of them. They tend to be more tuned into you community. Maybe a Credit Union ?
- bradleyjg 4y agoIt’s unclear to me exactly what role a local bank is supposed to play in the modern era. In the old days when banks did real underwriting, a local banker would know a small business or would-be homeowner’s reputation and take it into account (for better or worse.) Now banks just originate mortgages and use the standardized underwriting criteria provided by the buyer, usually GSEs. All other consumer lending is almost strictly driven by credit scores. Even medium sized businesses now have access to debt and equity markets. There are national companies that specialize in things like factoring. I guess maybe local banks are still making loans to hyperlocal businesses like pizza shops and hair salons?
- op00to 4y agoI often see “so and so development funded by Super Local Bank of the US” signs in front of new commercial developments. I’m guessing they’re hooked into the local business community and help facilitate “riskier” transactions like buying pizza shops and hair salons?
- bradleyjg 4y agoMaybe. I had thought the Blackstones of the world had gotten very deep into the commercial real estate market at this point.
- supernova87a 4y agoWhat about brokerages like Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc? Are holdings in money market funds/accounts in such typical brokerages protected / owned like a security? Or should one regard it also like cash, and not FDIC insured greater than $250,000? (but while also trusting those institutions are unlikely to fail or have risky policies)
- bradleyjg 4y agoMoney market funds are not guaranteed. Google “broke the buck.”
- arcticbull 4y agoThe value of the money market fund is not insured, no, but the failure of the brokerage is. That said regulations are significantly stronger now for MMFs than they were when pre-2008. I guess it depends on what you're trying to protect against exactly. [1] [1] https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/introduction https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/introduction
- arcticbull 4y agoMoney market funds are securities, and are covered by SIPC.
- tyoma 4y agoWhatever bank offers the best services to meet your needs. Then do treasury management. Put excess cash in short term treasury bonds (and their non-US equivalents). These are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing country and the markets in them are very liquid. I’m sure there is some service that will automate this for you, for a small fee.
- HoyaSaxa 4y agoAs long as it is not First Republic Bank or Signature Bank, I wouldn’t overthink the decision too much. What you should worry about is reducing the various risks you face by: 1) Having at least 2 distinct banks with no overlap in who has admin access. This is the most important step. In the US, an insider at your company is way more likely to commit fraud or get phished than your bank failing. Just like you’d never operate your production app from one availability zone, never rely on one bank. 2) If you have $10mm or more, consider having a portion of your funds at each bank going into a money market sweep. These off balance sheet facilities might take a few days or more to access from an operational standpoint during a bank failure, but are not subjected to the bank’s credit risk. However, money markets have their own different risks so I’d never recommend having more than 50% in them. 3) If you have more than 36 months of runway, having a portfolio of T-Bills. While U.S. Treasury Bills are often referenced as “risk free”, that ignores the fact that they can lose resell value, purchasing and holding them often involves some sort of counterparty risk, and there is always operational risk. Please do not use one of the big four banks. It is just making the system less safe, and there are plenty of times when that decision is going to bite you (a la PPP in 2020). For specific recommendations: 1) A credit union or community bank with a branch you can readily access. While you should never have to go in-person, it can be really useful to have it as a backup option. 2) If absolutely wanted to go with a big bank, Capital One is not a bad option.
- bradleyjg 4y agoRe: #3 The interest rate risk on 4 week treasuries is almost nothing and if you have a four week ladder, 1/4 of your money is always less than a week away. They are currently yielding 4.66%.
- 615341652341 4y agoSignature just closed